A Indian-fusion restaurant in East Louisville has a novel solution for the staffing shortages plaguing the hospitality industry — a robot.
Tandoori Fusion, located at 4600 Chamberlain Lane in the Chamberlain Pointe shopping center, is the first restaurant in Kentucky to use a robot to deliver food to its patrons.
The restaurant is taking part in the Kentucky Restaurant Modernization Initiative, a joint collaboration between Louisville-based technology company V-Soft Consulting Group Inc., the AI Innovation Consortium (AIIC), the University of Louisville (UofL), the University of Kentucky (UK) and Bear Robotics.
The initiative includes the use of robotic technologies, augmented reality, artificial intelligence (AI) and internet of things (IoT) to provide improved customer service and efficiency, as well as unique culinary experiences.
Tandoori Fusion is owned by Purna and Radhika Veer, the founders of V-Soft Consulting. Purna Veer said the restaurant modernization initiative is inline with his goal of using technology to improve service at his restaurant.
“As a technology entrepreneur, I’ve always been passionate about integrating advanced tech into my restaurant,” he explained. “I’m excited to see that vision finally come to life and also see how these innovations are improving the customer experience.”
Automation is a big topic in restaurant circles because labor shortages are an ongoing problem in the industry. As of April 2022, eating and drinking establishments were still 794,000 jobs — or 6.4% — below their pre-Covid 19 pandemic employment levels, according to the National Restaurant Association.
Staffing shortages have been cited as a factor in some recent high-profile restaurant closings in Louisville, including the bakery chain Breadworks and Red Top Hotdogs in Shelby Park.
Sanjay Kommera, chief technology officer for V-Soft, said automation can be the answer to restaurant labor issues, especially at quick-service establishments that have repetitive tasks, such as making pizzas or flipping burgers.
Fast food chains like McDonald's, White Castle and Chick-Fil-A are already implementing automation into their restaurants. The 2021 Global State of the Hospitality Industry report from cloud-based, point-of-sale (POS) company Lightspeed found that 50% of U.S. operators are planning to add new technology in the next two to three years.
Tandoori Fusion has had its robot — which doesn't have a name yet — for two months.
Kommera said within the first 30 days of integration, the robot made nearly 1,000 successful food deliveries to tables. With an average delivery time of 30 seconds, that equates to 30,000 seconds, or over 8 hours of time saved in less than a month.
"Step one was getting the robot operational so it can deliver food to your table and take dishes back to the kitchen," Kommera explained. "What we're doing now is working on customization so that the robot can greet customers when they come in."
Kommera said V-Soft will add more robots to Tandoori Fusion in the future. He declined to reveal how much the company is spending on the program.
"It's definitely a six-figure investment," he said. "Getting the robot is one side of the story, and then you have to build the user experience on the robot, so the robot can talk to the patrons, get the food and understand where they are."
Robots for restaurants start at around $10,000 from companies like Richtech Robotics or Chef AAA. There may also be installation and maintenance costs associated with the purchase.
Kommera said V-Soft Consulting plans to be in the restaurant automation sector beyond its project at Tandoori Fusion.
"The quick-service industry is a big component of the technology vertical," he explained. "At V-Soft, we work with major brands in the U.S. and across the globe. We are trying to build some modern solutions for them, which includes kitchen modernization and modernization of the restaurants."
