In Haidilao International Holding Ltd’s (海底撈) hotpot restaurants, robots are replacing chefs and waiters.
Asia’s biggest listed restaurant chain by market value is partnering with Japan’s Panasonic Corp to open what the two companies say is the world’s first eatery with a fully automated kitchen on Sunday in Beijing.
At the new Haidilao restaurant, robots are to take orders, prepare and deliver raw meat and fresh vegetables to customers.
The automation would lower labor costs and boost efficiency, underpinning Haidilao’s plan to expand to as many as 5,000 restaurants worldwide, the companies said.
“It could be difficult to expand to that size in terms of personnel, so Haidilao is shifting earlier to an operation that doesn’t rely so much on manual labor,” said Jun Yamashita, managing director of Ying Hai Holding Pte (瀛海), the Singapore-based joint venture Haidilao and Panasonic have set up. “That’s where Panasonic’s technology comes in.”
The joint venture was started with an investment of US$20 million, the companies said.
Haidilao has plans to expand the automated restaurants gradually in China and later overseas.
Haidilao became Asia’s first eatery chain to surpass US$10 billion in market value when it held its initial public offering in Hong Kong last month. The company has more than 360 locations around the world, including in Taiwan, Japan and the US.
“Haidilao is not just a restaurant — we’re also a company that also does manufacturing and logistics,” chairman Zhang Yong (張勇) told a briefing in Tokyo yesterday. “Before the food is brought to the table, it’s all a manufacturing process. After that, the service aspect takes over.”
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