Appetronix Acquires Cibotica to Automate Restaurant Kitchens

["Appetronix, a Canadian robotics company serving the food industry, has acquired Cibotica, a fellow Canadian company that develops ingredient dispensing and portioning technology. The acquisition brings Cibotica's flagship product, Remy, an automated bowl and salad assembly system, to Appetronix's restaurants. While financial details of the deal were not disclosed, the move is expected to open new doors for Appetronix, which has focused on establishing standalone, autonomous restaurants.", "According to Nipun Sharma, CEO of Appetronix, Cibotica's equipment is highly modular and can be integrated into existing restaurants, automating a significant percentage of tasks.

'With Cibotica, what they've done is created this amazing equipment that's very modular,' Sharma told The Robot Report. 'It goes into existing restaurants. It automates a big percentage of tasks that are done in current restaurants.

They've already done the work. We already have an infrastructure that we can benefit from the technology, because our machines can use what they've developed. And now, we can offer the service to everybody.'", "Appetronix currently operates robotic pizza kitchens through its partnership with Donatos, including a fully autonomous location at John Glenn Columbus International Airport in Columbus, Ohio, and another location opening this spring.

With the addition of Cibotica's dispensing technology, the company said it is better positioned to launch robotic concepts across multiple cuisines and other formats requiring precise ingredient portioning. Sharma noted that labor costs and the rising cost of goods have put pressure on restaurants in recent years, and Appetronix aims to relieve this pressure through automation.", "The acquisition marks a shift for Appetronix, which had originally planned to focus on setting up new, fully autonomous kitchens rather than automating existing ones. However, Sharma said that working with customers changed their outlook, and Cibotica's smart, modular technology was the right solution for automating existing kitchens.

'Having the knowledge base that Cibotica developed, the products, the patents – and it's astonishing what they've developed in the last few years – now we can sort of put it on our platform and go to some existing customers and say, 'Hey, while we're doing the restaurant, we can probably automate your current base as well,'' Sharma said.", "Moving forward, Sharma said Appetronix will offer a dual approach to its customers in automating existing kitchens and setting up new, fully autonomous kitchens. The company is also interested in acquiring more companies in the future, particularly those that can help with portion and temperature control, as well as exploring the use of laser technology to cut food. 'I'm a firm believer in not reinventing the wheel,' Sharma said.

'We're talking not just to hardware companies, but also some software companies that have an overlap in our needs for both maintenance and data infrastructure for AI. So, we're going to be acquiring whenever we have an opportunity to accelerate our development.'"]