The fast food and fast-casual industry has been interested in automation, and companies are partnering to expand robotics deployments. Yesterday, Sweetgreen Inc. said it plans to acquire Spyce Kitchen, which has developed robots to assemble salads and food bowls to order.
“As operators in the healthy, fast-casual space, sweetgreen has long been the brand that we have most admired,” Michael Farid, co-founder and CEO of Spyce. “We’re excited to come on board to join another inspiring, founder-led company, and to work together to blaze the trail for the future of this industry.”
Spyce said it has developed the “Infinite Kitchen”—“a cutting-edge, automated culinary tool designed to balance the core elements of cooking technique, measurement, and timing to bring out the most in every ingredient.” The Boston-based company counts chefs such as Daniel Boulud as investors and advisors. It has locations in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Mass., and in Boston.
Through automated fresh coooking, Spyce claimed that it can source quality ingredients, “enable seamless experiences for its guests, and create engaging and tech-forward jobs for its employees.”
Sweetgreen shares purpose with Spyce
Founded in 2007, sweetgreen said it believes that real food should be convenient and accessible to everyone. The company has more than 130 restaurants nationwide and over 4,300 team members preparing food daily from fresh ingredients. It filed for an initial public offering in June and is valued at $1.78 billion.
The companies said the acquisition will enable sweetgreen “to reimagine healthy fast food with even better quality, consistency, and efficiency.”
“Spyce and sweetgreen have a shared purpose,” said Jonathan Neman, co-founder and CEO of sweetgreen. “We built sweetgreen to connect more people to real food and create healthy fast food at scale for the next generation, and Spyce has built state-of-the-art technology that perfectly aligns with that vision. By joining forces with their best-in-class team, we will be able to elevate our team member experience, provide a more consistent customer experience, and bring real food to more communities.”
Food robots to benefit staffers and customers
Sweetgreen said it is determining when and where it will introduce Spyce’s technology into its restaurants. The company said its team members will be able to focus more on preparation and hospitality. It also noted that the opportunity to work with state-of-the-art technology could help retention.
In addition, sweetgreen said the acquisition will offer its team members opportunities to train to operate and maintain Spyce technology.
Spyce's robotics will also help generate faster and more consistent orders, benefitting the customer experience and building sweetgreen's brand. The company said it plans to expand its menu of healthy options beyond warm bowls, salad, and sides.
Sweetgreen and Spyce said their shared goal is to maintain convenience for guests while also offering nutritious food to as many people and communities as possible.
The companies did not disclose the value of the acquisition, which is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in Q3 of 2021.
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