Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or SoundCloud.
Ghost kitchens. Robot fry cooks. Pay with your face technology.
When it comes to developing next generation restaurant technologies, Cali Group CEO John Miller has been a leading industry visionary.
His Pasadena, Calif.-based company invests in technologies that are drastically changing the way restaurants do business. In late November, Miller’s fast casual burger concept, CaliBurger, opened a state-of-the-art restaurant in Fort Myers, Florida. The restaurant features new and improved versions of technologies created by Cali Group companies including Miso Robotics, creator of the robotic fry and burger cook Flippy, and facial recognition software company PopID.
Though it is Cali Group’s newest incubator, PopID’s so-called “pay with your face” technology is seeing wider industry adoption as restaurants look for fast and frictionless ordering systems. Besides CaliBurger, restaurants adding PopID software to kiosks include small and medium-sized brands: Deli Time, Plant Power, Rounds Bakery, Global Village Cafe, Saola, Treehouse, Ray's Coffee House and Milkcow Café.
This week, Winston-Salem, N.C.-based quick-service chain Dairi-O announced plans to install PopID at all locations by the first half of 2020. The software is also being used at several college campuses.
In our podcast, Miller talks about privacy concerns tied to facial recognition software, tweaks made to Flippy the robot and the crowded ghost kitchen space.
Thanks for listening.
Contact Nancy Luna at [email protected]
Follow her on Twitter: @fastfoodmaven