Chipotle Unveils ‘Autocado’ Robot That’ll Help Make Its Famed Guac At Top Speed

Chipotle is dipping further into the perks of automation. Previously, the chain introduced a tortilla-making robot to California and debuted a kitchen helper that fries and seasons its famed tortilla chips.

Now, the popular brand is heading to a new level in its quest to make life easier for restaurant staff. It recently announced it has partnered with robotics company Vebu to create the Autocado, a prototype robot designed to tackle the labor-intensive task of cutting, coring, and peeling avocados for guacamole.

With Autocado, kitchen workers can simply load the robot with up to 25 lbs of ripe avocados and select the desired size. From there, the robot takes over, efficiently processing the avocados. Once done, kitchen staff can collect the perfectly prepared fruit in a bowl, add the remaining ingredients, and start mashing.

Video via Chipotle

One of the major benefits of Autocado is its potential to significantly reduce guacamole preparation time. Currently, it takes about 50 minutes for Chipotle’s kitchen staff to transform avocados into a batch of guacamole, most of which goes to the time-consuming peeling and coring steps.

However, with Autocado’s assistance, this process could be cut in half, allowing kitchen staff to allocate their time to other essential food preparation tasks while ensuring a steady supply of freshly made guacamole for customers.

Chipotle also envisions that Autocado could address the issue of food waste and reduce costs. By streamlining the avocado processing and cutting down on potential mistakes or inefficiencies, the robot has the potential to optimize the use of avocados and minimize waste.

[via Gizmodo and Engadget, cover image via Chipotle]

This article was crafted with assistance from an AI engine, and has been reviewed, edited, and fact-checked.