---
title: "Will 2023 Be the Year of the Robot?"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/8ac8ae6f-2302-4bb4-bdc4-46d59a1ed044
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/will-2023-be-the-year-of-the-robot-2720723
category: "QSR"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "QSR"
topics: ["Technology"]
published: 2022-12-29T18:13:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:08:39.766Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/73ab7640ec3d8083e25f1c985fb9bc829341.jpg
---

# Will 2023 Be the Year of the Robot?

**TL;DR:** Restaurants such as Chipotle Mexican Grill and Sweetgreen are testing robots to help with tasks like making tortilla chips and salads due to worker shortages and rising labor costs. Experts believe that while robots may not immediately replace workers, they could lead to a permanent reduction in the workforce once they become mainstream.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2022-12-29. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/will-2023-be-the-year-of-the-robot-2720723).*

## Story

Fueled by worker shortages and rising labor costs in recent years, restaurants turned to robots for a helping hand.

Some of the latest to do so are Chipotle Mexican Grill, which is testing whether a robot can make tortilla chips in stores, and Sweetgreen, which plans to automate salad making in at least two locations, CNBC reported. Additionally, Inspire Brands announced in a press release that the Buffalo Wild Wings franchise is testing Flippy Wings (nicknamed Wingy), a robotic chicken wing fryer designed for high-volume restaurants.

Many of this year’s robot-related announcements came from Miso Robotics, which is behind Wingy, as well as Flippy, a robot that can be programmed to flip burgers or make chicken wings, which has been used most notably by White Castle. Miso says that Wingy can “result in a 10% to 20% increase in food production speed,” as well as “eliminate several hot touchpoints and drastically decrease oil spillage,” which could be a draw for franchisors looking to streamline operations.

However, with spotty results so far, experts say it will be years before robots pay off for companies or take the place of workers.

“I think there’s a lot of experimentation that is going to lead us somewhere at some point, but we’re still a very labor-intensive, labor-driven industry,” said David Henkes, a principal at Technomic, a restaurant research firm.

Once these types of robots *do* become mainstream in the restaurant world, some experts believe that there’s no going back. For example, Casey Warman, an economics professor at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, expects the industry’s push for automation will permanently shrink its workforce.

“Once the machines are in place, they’re not going to go backwards, especially if there’s large cost savings,” he said.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- Technomic (company)
- Inspire Brands (company)
- Buffalo Wild Wings (company)
- Chipotle Mexican Grill (company)
- Sweetgreen (company)
- labor costs (topic)
- White Castle (company)
- automation (topic)
- Miso Robotics (company)
- David Henkes (person)

---
Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/will-2023-be-the-year-of-the-robot-2720723). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/8ac8ae6f-2302-4bb4-bdc4-46d59a1ed044).