Compass Group Canada and SJW Robotics Announce Exclusive Partnership to Introduce A Revolutionary 24-Hour, Automated Kitchen
July 07 2022 - 9:05AM
Compass Group Canada and SJW Robotics today announced an exclusive
partnership where the global food service leader will pilot three
24/7 autonomous kitchen robots named RoWok™ in select Canadian
operations. The partnership is aimed at addressing a gap in food
service – where warm, fresh, customizable meals are not available –
providing a welcome option for healthcare workers on a night shift
or students studying after hours. RoWok™ is designed to serve
spaces that traditionally may not have an available footprint for
an on-site kitchen or kitchen staff available 24/7, while also
providing an easy-to-use, hot and fresh food alternative throughout
the day. Today’s announcement is another step in Compass Group
Canada’s mission to be the country’s most innovative food service
provider – offering new service and business models while improving
experiences for customers, clients and associates.
“We looked at traditional hot food service models and saw a real
need for 24/7 meal availability with wow factor,” said Michael
Hachey, chief innovation officer. “By partnering with RoWok, we are
adapting to different needs in the market and augmenting existing
hot food service models that typically require labour and a
full-service kitchen. People never used to think about grabbing a
hot, fresh, customized meal at 3 a.m. because it was simply not
available – now it’s possible with this cutting-edge technology
that solves for these complexities,” he said.
Using robotics, AI, machine learning, data science and cloud
analytics technology, RoWok™ offers an engaging and innovative
customer experience – while occupying only 100 square feet of
space. With the ability to produce 60+ meals per hour, the product
is a natural fit for some of Compass Groups managed facilities
where kitchen services are not available. The company intends to
expand these services to provide another option to large-scale
kitchen operations and mixed schedules, for example, healthcare
workers and hospital guests eating during non-business hours or
office workers without easy access to fresh cafeteria services.
“Our team has developed a fully autonomous QSR solution with one
goal in mind – to cook incredibly fresh and great-tasting meals at
high speed. Our partnership with Compass allows us to rapidly scale
up within the infrastructure of one the best workplaces in retail
and hospitality – and the team at Compass have been an invaluable
complement to help accelerate our deployment,” said Nipun Sharma,
co-founder & CEO, SJW Robotics Inc.
The RoWok™ machine works hand in hand with foodservice
associates on site, who are required to prep, stock and monitor the
quality of product and service. The technology will also help
reduce the costs and labour complexities associated with offering a
24/7 staffed, fresh food service operation.
“Building an eco-system of partners allows us to implement and
deploy new ideas, quickly and effectively. We are thrilled to
partner with the SJW Robotics team and bring RoWok into our
facilities, combining their state-of-art technology with our
expertise in food service,” said Heather Wilkie, vice-president,
innovation at Compass Group Canada. “We are challenging the status
quo and pushing boundaries with this partnership, and we can’t wait
to hear what our clients and guests have to say about RoWok.”
Today’s announcement is one of several new concepts from Compass
Group Canada’s newly announced innovation team. Compass Group
Canada and SJW Robotics have begun exploring pilot locations across
Ontario and plan to install three machine this coming Fall in the
Healthcare, Business & Industry and Educational spaces.
About Compass Group Canada
Compass Group Canada is Canada’s leading foodservice and support
services provider with over 20,000 associates working in more than
2,200 locations throughout the country. The company specializes in
providing foodservices and support services, including facilities
management and vending services. Compass Group Canada works across
core sectors including leading sports and leisure venues, executive
dining rooms and cafes, schools, universities, seniors’ residences,
and hospitals as well as remote camps and offshore oil rigs.
Compass Group Canada has been recognized as one of Canada’s Most
Admired™ Corporate Cultures in 2021, an award recognizing
best-in-class Canadian organizations for having cultures that help
enhance performance and competitive advantage, as well as a Great
Place to Work®, in 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019, as a Best
Workplaces™ in Canada in 2022, Best Workplaces™ in Retail and
Hospitality in 2021 and 2020 and as a GTA Top Employer in 2021. To
learn more, visit www.compass-canada.com, LinkedIn and
Instagram!
About SJW Robotics
SJW Robotics is a pioneering FoodTech company developing
autonomous kitchen robotic systems for the hospitality industry.
Drawing upon eighty years of combined experience in autonomous
machine engineering, restaurant concept development and foodservice
manufacturing, the company’s multi-disciplinary core team is
reshaping the foodservice industry via scalable and profitable
automated solutions – merging the art of cooking with the science
of automation. To learn more, visit http://sjwrobotics.com or
LinkedIn.
Media Contact:
Compass Group CanadaCourtney Gardner, Senior
Manager, Corporate
CommunicationsCourtney.gardner@compass-canada.com
SJW RoboticsIvana Palumbo, Corporate
Communicationsmedia@sjwrobotics.com
Photos accompanying this announcement are available at
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