It seems it never rains Marinara Sauce but it absolutely pours. Just last week we offered up the advent of Automated Pizza Kitchens as a potential challenge to conventional Pizza joints. Then, just a few days later, another contender in the robot Pizza maker category surfaced…
A prototype of the 800 Degrees Pizza Kiosk…
Looks like this ‘automated Pizza robot’ thing may be more a fad than a trend. Within a week, two U.S. entrepreneurs announced they’ll both place hundreds of machines in public places over the next year.
The newest contender to throw its crust into the ring is the 800 Degrees Pizza kiosk, brainchild of chef Anthony Carron who opened his first Neapolitan-style Pizza resto in Southern California in 2012. The Piestro company’s stand-alone kiosk dresses and bakes pies to order in under three minutes, using fresh ingredients from hoppers you can see through the machine’s big front window.
The Cheese dispenser (left) and the Pepperoni scatterer
(centre) of the 800 Degrees Pizza kiosk…
The 800 Degrees Kiosk differs from its only competition (so far), the Basil Street Automated Pizza Kitchen, in that the Basil Street machine simply bakes up a limited selection of pies from frozen, rather than actualy constructing a pie fro0m fresh ingredients. That not only limits its menu to about half a dozen ‘standard’ pies, but completely misses the mark on the ‘fresh’ front. But that doesn’t mean the pies are any less appealing. As of this writing, we’ve heard of no reviewer who has tasted both, and who could therefore give us an objective appraisal. But that metric is, at best, subjective – not really something that can be included as a variable in the pizza robot equation.
The real questions facing pizza lovers – and pizza kiosk purveyors – are these: Can kiosks beat – or even meet – traditional pizzerias on quality? And: Can kiosks beat traditional pizza joints (most of which rely on delivery orders for the bulk of their business) on the convenience angle? And: Can kiosks carve out a significant slice of the market with retail prices rivaling those of the conventional delivery/takeout business model?
Quality is job #1
I can’t help observing that the Piestro machine has an obvious advantage over the Basil Street kiosk on the quality front. ‘Fresh’ is a big deal with consumers these days. And I think the notion that the Piestro machine lets customers configure their own toppings lineup is also a big deal. On the other hand, I wonder how generous the toppings will be on the 800 Degrees pizzas, given the relatively small size of the ingredient hoppers on the prototype – unless, of course, the machines are serviced multiple times daily. But that kind of negates the economic advantage of not having a conventional staff, like a traditional pizza joint has. Nevertheless, up against conventional Pizza joints – especially local, one-off restos, where the human touch and unique recipes make them perennial faves in their neighbourhoods – I don’t see how the machines can ever prevail.
Convenience is top-of-psyhche for Gen-Xers
Not just Gen-Xers; but the young adults of all the succeeding ‘generations’. Well… Convenience may be a big deal, especially with a take-out ‘staple’ like Pizza, but the young folks are also spearheading a new drive for quality and healthy food. I’m sure that kiosks will appeal especially to college students pulling all-nighters or staggering in from marathon beer parties. But who else? I suppose everybody will eventually have an occasion on which they have no other choice but a 24/7 robot kiosk to get a ‘fresh’, hot Pizza. But other than night workers and the aforementioned young folks, who is likely to patronize the kiosks repeatedly and faithfully?
The battle for market share
All the aforementioned discussion having been served up on the table, I can’t see robot Pizza kiosks winning a significant chunk of the overall market. Conventional Pizza joints – chain or ‘mom and pop’ – will almost certainly retain the lion’s share. But it’s just possible that kiosks will capture enough of a share at the ‘fringes’ of the market to keep them in business, and even making money for their masters. That, of course, is still a toss-up…
What do you think?
~ Maggie J.