CHIPOTLE TESTS AI KITCHEN ASSISTANT, CHIPPY

News provided by

Mar 16, 2022, 08:05 ET

Brand leverages Miso Robotics to innovate its culinary process for tortilla chips

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., March 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) today announced its latest digital innovation, Chippy, an autonomous kitchen assistant that integrates culinary traditions with artificial intelligence to make tortilla chips. Chipotle's culinary and technology teams called on Miso Robotics to customize its latest robotic solution to cook and freshly season Chipotle's delicious tortilla chips.

Chipotle's latest digital innovation, Chippy, is an autonomous kitchen assistant that integrates culinary traditions with artificial intelligence to make tortilla chips. Chippy is trained to replicate Chipotle’s exact recipe – using corn masa flour, water and sunflower oil – to cook chips to perfection, season with a dusting of salt, and finish with a hint of fresh lime juice.

"We are always exploring opportunities to enhance our employee and guest experience. Our goal is to drive efficiencies through collaborative robotics that will enable Chipotle's crew members to focus on other tasks in the restaurant," said Curt Garner, Chief Technology Officer, Chipotle.

Chipotle's culinary team guided Miso in tailoring its technology to maintain the culinary integrity of the brand. Leveraging artificial intelligence, Chippy is trained to replicate Chipotle's exact recipe – using corn masa flour, water and sunflower oil – to cook chips to perfection, season with a dusting of salt, and finish with a hint of fresh lime juice. It was imperative that the technique remained the same so customers receive delicious, craveable chips every time.

"Everyone loves finding a chip with a little more salt or an extra hint of lime," said Nevielle Panthaky, Vice President of Culinary, Chipotle. "To ensure we didn't lose the humanity behind our culinary experience, we trained Chippy extensively to ensure the output mirrored our current product, delivering some subtle variations in flavor that our guests expect."

Chippy is currently being tested at the Chipotle Cultivate Center, Chipotle's innovation hub in Irvine, Calif., and will be integrated into a Chipotle restaurant in Southern California later this year. The company is leveraging its stage-gate process to listen, test and learn from crew and guest feedback before deciding on a national implementation strategy.

"When Chipotle challenged us to see if our technology could meet the brand's high standards for culinary quality, we couldn't wait to flex our engineering and design muscles," said Mike Bell, CEO, Miso Robotics. "This partnership will allow us to move into new territory to help improve back-of-house functions and assist team members with their day-to-day responsibilities."

An innovator in restaurant technology, Chipotle continues to invest in emerging solutions to support its growing digital business and reduce friction in its restaurants. The company believes technology deployed consistently and correctly can improve the human experience. Chipotle already leverages artificial intelligence with its concierge chat bot, Pepper. Pepper ensures guests have an exceptional experience on the Chipotle app and Chipotle.com. Chipotle customers can select from frequently asked questions or ask their own questions to get a response quickly. Chippy joins Pepper in Chipotle's artificial intelligence suite to improve Chipotle's overall guest and employee experience.

ABOUT CHIPOTLE
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) is cultivating a better world by serving responsibly sourced, classically-cooked, real food with wholesome ingredients without artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. Chipotle had over 2,950 restaurants as of December 31, 2021, in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Germany and is the only restaurant company of its size that owns and operates all its restaurants. Chipotle is ranked on the Fortune 500 and is recognized on the 2021 lists for Forbes' America's Best Employers and Fortune's Most Admired Companies. With nearly 100,000 employees passionate about providing a great guest experience, Chipotle is a longtime leader and innovator in the food industry. Chipotle is committed to making its food more accessible to everyone while continuing to be a brand with a demonstrated purpose as it leads the way in digital, technology and sustainable business practices. For more information or to place an order online, visit WWW.CHIPOTLE.COM.

ABOUT MISO ROBOTICS
Miso Robotics is revolutionizing commercial foodservice through intelligent automation solutions that solve some of the largest gaps in back-of-house kitchen operations. Ready to make an immediate financial impact on a restaurant's bottom line, Miso's AI-driven platform incorporates robotics, machine learning, computer vision and data analytics to power and develop its breakthrough products, including: Chippy, Flippy 2, CookRight and Sippy.

With real industry knowledge and learnings accrued through brand partnerships over its first five years, Miso's products are constantly evolving to drive consistency, increase productivity, reduce costs and improve the overall dining experience. For more information about the future of restaurant automation, visit: https://misorobotics.com.

SOURCE Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.