Nando's trials robot fry line to cook chips

Nando's has partnered with robotic kitchen automation provider Karakuri to cook chips in its London Park Royal restaurant.

It is the first restaurant group in the world to trial Karakuri's /FRYR210 automated fry line.

The /FRYR210 uses robotics, cutting-edge computing and hyperscale data analysis to allow restaurants to produce up to 550 portions of chips per hour.

The robot is designed to tackle the difficulty around handling and timing multiple fry baskets at once. It uses artificial intelligence to determine the best amounts of food to fry, based on the time of day and previous activity.

Cameron Roberts, group chief operating officer at Nando's, said: "In testing Karakuri's /FRYR, we wanted to see how we can further improve the quality, consistency, and availability of our chips, while meeting our environmental objectives of reducing food and oil waste and reducing energy consumption."

Barney Wragg, chief executive and founder of Karakuri, added: "The QSR and fast casual market is driven by finding fresh, new ways to deliver an exceptional customer experience that keep consumers coming back for more.

"Our /FRYR product range is representative of how new technology can support every restaurant's mission to improve their service in ways that were impossible five years ago."

Find out more about QSR automation provider Karakuri in our spotlight on robots.