Chipotle testing Autocado prototype for guacamole prep

Chipotle Mexican Grill aims to take some of the labor out of making its guacamole with help from the Autocado.

The Autocado is an avocado-processing cobotic (collaborative robot) prototype that cuts, cores and peels avocados to be made into guacamole. The prototype, developed in collaboration with Vebu, is being tested at the Chipotle Cultivate Center in Irvine, Calif., according to a news release.

The device could ultimately reduce guacamole prep time by 50%, allowing Chipotle employees to focus on serving guests and providing great hospitality, the release said.

How does the Autocado work?

An employee loads the Autocado with a full case of ripe avocados and selects the size setting. Autocado can hold up to 25 pounds of avocados at once, the release said.

Avocados are vertically oriented one at a time, then transferred to the processing device.

The avocados are sliced in half. Their cores and skin are automatically removed, and the waste is discarded, according to the release.

The fruit is safely collected in a stainless-steel bowl in the bottom of the device. An employee removes the bowl of avocado fruit and moves it to the counter where they add additional ingredients and hand-mash the avocados to make Chipotle's signature guacamole. 

How it could help

Vebu worked closely with certified training managers from Chipotle's restaurants to analyze the company's preparation process and identify tasks that are time-consuming and less favorable among crew members, according to the release.

Chipotle currently has individuals dedicated to cutting, coring and scooping avocados. It takes an average of about 50 minutes to make a batch of guacamole, the release said.

Vebu is seeking to improve and ultimately reduce guacamole prep time at Chipotle. In restaurants across the U.S., Canada and Europe this year, the company expects to use approximately 4.5 million cases of avocados, equivalent to more than 100 million pounds of fruit.

In support of Chipotle's sustainability initiatives and waste reduction efforts, Autocado also aims to increase avocado fruit yield through precision processing, which could lead to millions of dollars in annual food cost savings if the cobot is successfully developed and deployed widely, the release said.

"We are committed to exploring collaborative robotics to drive efficiencies and ease pain points for our employees," Curt Garner, chief customer and technology officer for Chipotle, said in the release. "The intensive labor of cutting, coring and scooping avocados could be relieved with Autocado, but we still maintain the essential culinary experience of hand-mashing and hand-preparing the guacamole to our exacting standards."

"Our purpose as a robotic company is to leverage automation technology to give workers more flexibility in their day-to-day work,” Vebu CEO Buck Jordan said in the release. "Autocado has the potential to work alongside Chipotle crew members to create the same, delicious guacamole that Chipotle fans love but more efficiently than ever before."

AI outlook

Vebu is developing an artificial intelligence and machine learning stack to be connected to all its robotic solutions, where applicable, according to the release. The goal is for future iterations of Autocado to use machine learning and sensor fusion to evaluate the quality of the avocados and quantify waste reduction as well as the efficiency of the cutting, coring and peeling processes.

Chipotle is investing in Vebu as part of Cultivate Next, the company's $50 million venture fund that intends to make early-stage investments into strategically aligned companies that further its mission to "Cultivate a Better World" and help accelerate its aggressive growth plans, the release said.

Through Cultivate Next, Chipotle has previously invested in Hyphen, a foodservice platform designed to help restaurant owners, operators and budding chefs move their business forward by automating kitchen operations, the release said. Hyphen's first product, The Makeline, is being tested as a system that uses advanced software and robotics to automate meal production for all digital orders under the counter while allowing staff to assemble in-house orders from the top of the counter.

In addition to Autocado, Chipotle is currently testing Chippy, an autonomous kitchen assistant that integrates culinary traditions with AI to make tortilla chips, in a Fountain Valley, Calif., restaurant.