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Supply Chain Sparrow –Supply Chain News and Resources

The Perishables Ecosystem –Food, Wine, Cannabis & More

Cheers to Robot Supported Happy Hours

Lara L. Sowinski · August 2020 ·

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Automation is making a deeper foray into the food and beverage supply chain as companies look to implement social distancing and contactless transactions to keep workers and consumers safe in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Thankfully, Rosé the Robot and Tipsy Robot are doing their part to make sure the much needed Happy Hour isn’t disrupted.

Hotel Trio in Healdsburg, California saw an expanded role for Rosé the Robot, which the property deployed several years ago to deliver a variety of items to guests’ rooms. In March, the robot went from “novelty to necessity” in order to provide guests with a touchless experience, explained Scott Satterfield, Hotel Trio’s general manager, who added that the robot is thoroughly sanitized after each delivery.

Rosé the Robot

Meanwhile, Tipsy Robot in Las Vegas is also experiencing a renewed appreciation for its robotic bartenders that mix up drinks ordered by customers via an app, then delivers the drinks on a conveyor belt. The Tipsy Robot, located inside the Planet Hollywood hotel, opened in 2017. Like other dining and drink establishments in Las Vegas it closed briefly this spring, but it has since reopened.

Aside from delivering a bottle of wine to a guest’s hotel room or mixing a drink, there are other areas in the food supply chain that are seeing increased adoption of robotic automation, such as fast food environments where repetition and efficiency are key, or for tasks such as flipping a burger, slicing, or putting a pickle on a sandwich. 

However, the consumer experience is an important consideration. While a burger-flipping robot may be acceptable in a fast food restaurant, human interaction is preferred in upscale dining environments. 

So, it seems Sammy the Sommelier may be a few years away.

Filed Under: Wine/Beer/Spirits Tagged With: automation, foodservice, robots, wineindustry

Primary Sidebar

I VOTED (for cannabis)

No matter their political stripe, many Americans are in agreement with efforts to legalize recreational and medical cannabis.

On November 3, voters legalized marijuana for adult use in Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota. Initiatives to legalize medical cannabis passed in Mississippi and South Dakota. The rapid expansion of legalized cannabis throughout the U.S. has a direct impact on the supply chain.

Let’s start by considering the food supply chain–a valuable case study with COVID-19 as the backdrop. Early on, Americans experienced food shortages at the retail level. Manufacturers and distributors scrambled to realign networks to supply grocery stores where demand was spiking, while shifting away from restaurants and the hospitality sector where demand was tanking. In a matter of months, online shopping and food delivery to consumers’ homes grew dramatically. As a result, the food supply chain is in the midst of reinventing itself.

The cannabis supply chain faces some similar challenges. Most importantly, there’s an opportunity now to learn and adopt best practices from the food and pharmaceutical supply chains with which it shares key commonalities.

What are the risks to the cannabis supply chain? California’s unprecedented fires this year threatened growers throughout the state. How quickly can infrastructure scale-up to meet demand, and at what cost? Commercial and industrial real estate is currently at a premium with the proliferation of e-commerce. What about transportation, distribution and logistics capabilities, including reverse logistics in the case of product recalls? Facilities, equipment, and skilled workers are in high demand, and as competition for these various assets tightens, what does that mean for the entire perishables sector (food, cannabis, wine, beverages, pharma, etc.) that need them? Collaboration and creativity can provide critical solutions across the board.

On a related note, a small handful of American and European companies are in talks with Rwanda now about exporting cannabis to the country to meet rising pharmaceutical demand. Supply Chain Sparrow has previously identified cannabis exports as a massive opportunity for the U.S., which of course, would require legislative changes at the federal level.

Vote. And keep on voting.

Be Brave. Fly Right. And keep in touch at info@scsparrow.com.

Lara L. Sowinski, Executive Editor

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