🍕 Axios Finish Line: Future of pizza

Photo: Rosey the robot | Tuesday, October 04, 2022

Open in app View in browser     Axios Finish Line By Mike Allen, Erica Pandey and Jim VandeHei ·Oct 04, 2022 Oct 04, 2022 Thanks for all the great emails. Let us know what you're reading — or would like to read in Finish Line: Drop us a note. Smart Brevity™ count: 316 words ... < 1½ min.     1 big thing: Disrupting pizza Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios   Making a pizza with a robot is harder than it sounds. So several startups are turning to artificial intelligence to try to churn out pies faster — and cheaper — than humans. Why it matters: Robots are flipping burgers, frying chips, brewing coffee. But pizza could be the slice of the food business where automation makes its biggest mark, Jennifer A. Kingson writes for Axios What's Next. Top engineering minds are building contraptions that can stretch dough, slap on sauce, and sprinkle cheese and toppings without human intervention. Stellar Pizza, founded by a former SpaceX rocket scientist, will open this month in L.A., with a fleet of trucks staffed by robotic pizza chefs + human drivers. PizzaHQ in New Jersey has converted a traditional pizzeria into a robotic one, with plans to expand. Picnic Works is a tech company that leases the "Picnic Pizza Station" — a modular assembly line that can make up to 100 pizzas an hour under the supervision of one human attendant. A robot assembles pies at PizzaHQ, which uses a Picnic Works machine. Photo: PizzaHQ "Nobody in food service has enough workers," says Clayton Wood, CEO of Picnic Works, whose machines have been used by Domino's, SeaWorld, and Chartwells, the school cafeteria vendor. Plus, robots can save money: Cheese is "the most expensive ingredient on the pizza" as well as "the most over-topped" — with workers typically slapping on 40% more than prescribed, Wood said. Robo-pizza joints are also banking on a "pizzatainment" factor to goose sales — it's fun to watch the robot. Share this story.     A message from Axios Smart Brevity for leadership communications     Axios' Co-founders recently shared how Smart Brevity powers their own executive strategy — and how any leader can use it to deliver clear, effective communication every time, no matter the topic. Get the executive summary.     2. 🤖 At your service Photo: Nathan Papes/Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader via Reuters After a robot makes your pizza, another droid can deliver it. This is Rosey, waiting tables at Archie's Italian Eatery in Springfield, Mo.   Thank you to Patricia Guadalupe for copy editing tonight's Finish Line. Are you a fan of this email format? It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 300 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.   Follow Axios on social media: