What Buffalo Wild Wings’ New Wing-Frying Robot Could Mean for Franchisees

Inspire Brands' Buffalo Wild Wings is testing an innovative solution to combat this year’s historic labor crunch: Flippy Wings (nicknamed Wingy), a robotic chicken wing fryer designed for high volume restaurants, according to a press release.

The announcement comes as the ongoing labor shortage and supply chain constraints force many franchise brands to adapt their operations to better satisfy consumer demand and protect their bottom line. This type of robotic automation could help franchisees offset steep food prices by reducing labor costs, streamlining operations and maximizing back-of-house efficiencies. Miso, the creator of Flippy Wings, said the product can “result in a 10% to 20% increase in food production speed,” as well as “eliminate several hot touchpoints and drastically decrease oil spillage.”

"Technology is making a fundamental impact on the end-to-end restaurant operational model," said Paul Brown, CEO of Inspire Brands, in the press release. "Intelligent automation including AI and robotics will not only transform how we communicate with and take orders from our guests, but also how we prepare and serve food to those guests. This transformation will ultimately result in improved efficiencies in our restaurants and an overall elevated experience for our guests and our team members."

Buffalo Wild Wings certainly isn't the only brand looking toward automation in recent times. In April of this year, Domino’s rolled out its first-ever pizza delivery bots in partnership with robotics firm Nuro and in February, DoorDash acquired robotic salad maker Chowbotics. About 50% of U.S. restaurant operators said they plan to use automation technology to help fill labor gaps in the next two to three years, according to a "Global State of the Hospitality Industry" report from Lightspeed.