Holy guacamole! Chipotle is using robots to cut, core, and peel avocados
Fast food restaurants seem to be the next frontier for advanced robotics and automation technologies. A few months ago, we examined how Wendy’s is working with Google Cloud and Pipedream to automate its order delivery and drive-thru processes. Now Chipotle Mexican Grill has hopped on the automation bandwagon and is testing out a new cobot with the potential to slash prep times and optimize everyone’s favorite taco topping.
Meet the Autocado, a cobot that is designed to cut, core, and peel avocados to be used in Chipotle’s highly requested guacamole. The prototype was developed by Vebu, an automation company with ties to the food and beverage industry. The Autocado is currently being tested at the restaurant’s Cultivate Center in Irvine, California. According to Vebu, the robotics company worked closely with Chipotle Certified Training Managers, analyzing ways to optimize and expedite orders. They ultimately decided to focus their attention on the freshly made guacamole.
Preparing guacamole by hand is a labor-intensive endeavor, taking approximately 50 minutes to make one back of the delicious topping. The Autocado could reduce prep time by up to 50%. This might not sound like a lot until you consider that Chipotle uses about 4.5 million cases (or 100 million pounds) of avocados every year.
The Autocado functions rather simply. Up to 25 lbs of ripe avocados are loaded into the machine. The machine then orients the avocados vertically, slices them in half, and removes the core and skin before depositing the fruits in a bowl to be collected by workers.
In a recent quote, Curt Garner, Chief Customer and Technology Officer at Chipotle, said, "We are committed to exploring collaborative robotics to drive efficiencies and ease pain points for our employees. 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."
About the Author
Alexis GajewskiAlexis Gajewski
Senior Content Strategist
Alexis Gajewski is a manufacturing writer and editor with nearly 20 years of experience covering the people, practices, and technologies that keep industrial facilities running. For more than a decade, she served as Senior Content Strategist for Plant Services, creating content for plant managers, engineers, and maintenance professionals on a variety of industrial topics.
During her tenure, Alexis worked to develop the brand’s digital strategy and helped launch and produce Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast. She also created The Lighter Side of Manufacturing, a weekly blog that explored the inventive and sometimes humorous side of the industry.
Alexis co-founded Influential Women in Manufacturing, a recognition program that honored 49 women in its first two years, earned an industry award for Best Product Launch, and received a proclamation from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and a commendation from U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth.
She also led newsroom operations and development at a large media company where she set editorial standards, developed training curriculum, and helped support AI adoption for more than 150 editors across 80+ brands spanning manufacturing, industrial processing, automation, and more.
Additionally, Alexis works as a freelance writer and editor, and her areas of interest include continuous improvement, the skilled workforce, and the role of emerging technology on the plant floor.
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