PASADENA, Calif. — Miso Robotics – the startup transforming the foodservice industry with intelligent automation – announced the release of its standalone software as a service (SaaS) offering, CookRight. Packed with expanded cooking capabilities and accessible through an affordable subscription model, CookRight is the world’s first artificial intelligence (AI) powered cooking platform able to automatically identify and track products and tasks. CookRight’s first platform application is focused on the grill and will deliver new levels of precision, quality and efficiency to restaurants – a long-standing gap within the industry. As operators look to rebound from the effects of the pandemic, Miso Robotics brings a data-driven operational approach to enhance customer satisfaction and curb costs to help move the industry into long-term recovery and new growth.
The food service industry has historically relied exclusively on humans to manually follow a cooking workflow that adheres to cooking standards set by operators and health officials. A worker is expected to monitor the cook time, quality and consistency of food in kitchens. Yet, while most cooks think they are accurately overseeing the items on the grill, the traditional practices of relying on a wall clock, a manual timer or intuition when deciding to flip or remove those items has continuously caused food to be undercooked, cooked incorrectly and inconsistently. The resulting effects have led to frequent health and safety risks, as well as customer dissatisfaction. According to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), every year, an estimated 1-in-6 Americans (or 48 million people) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases – often caused by exposure to bacteria because the food has not been handled properly or cooked to the correct internal temperature. One outbreak has the potential to drastically reduce the immediate and future success of a restaurant.
CookRight offers a proven method to ensure food safety and cooking standards are met. An advanced AI platform that incorporates machine learning, sensors and computer vision, CookRight has served as the foundation of Miso Robotics’ flagship product, Flippy – known for its robotic grilling and frying capabilities. The software allows cooks to track a food item on a grill and monitor cooking time automatically to deliver precision-level cooking. Able to provide a data-rich workflow with alerts built in to guide staff and keep cooking on track from the moment an item is placed on the grill, CookRight not only improves the cooking process but also assists in ensuring accurate order completion. Built and designed with the modern-day digitized employee in mind – CookRight simplifies tasks and provides operational assistance through an easy-to-navigate user interface to help employees focus on customer service needs such as speed, accuracy and quality. With the adoption of the platform, operators and workers benefit from a streamlined training approach that cuts time investment and costs, while improving cooking performance.
The new release of CookRight as a standalone software service comes to market with advanced grilling capabilities. Now operators can apply precision cooking to a variety of grilled food items on their menus, without the need to purchase Flippy, giving them access to a cutting-edge technology tool capable of unearthing valuable insights that reduce operational expenses and help deliver the best customer experience possible.
Key benefits of the platform and expanded capabilities that will come with the new SaaS offering include:
- Wide Range of Grilling Capabilities
- In addition to burgers, CookRight provides precision grilling to chicken, fish, steak, sausage, hot dogs, and more. Miso Robotics plans to expand cooking ‘applications’ to other common quick-service menu items as well.
- Perfect Consistency and Precision Targeting
- Accurate Image Recognition and Product Timing: True cook time is tracked for each product placed on the grill and requires no manual intervention. As soon as a product goes on, CookRight immediately identifies what the item is (with greater than 96% accuracy) and starts the timer for it – eliminating human error like starting a timer late or not at all.
- Machine Learning: CookRight identifies exactly where a product is placed on the grill and has the ability to learn each grill’s heat distribution to cook those items more precisely. The software can also flag performance and maintenance issues to the kitchen staff.
- Critical Task Alerts: Alerts are sent to kitchen staff when an action needs to occur like flipping the product or taking it off the grill.
- Correct Assembly Process: Allows for real-time quality control to prevent quality errors before they go out – ensuring that everything that belongs in the bag gets in the bag.
- Powerful Analytics
- Miso Kitchen Intelligence (Miso KI) Dashboard: Delivers operational insights – including real-time metrics, automated reporting and data drill downs – to improve food quality, drive efficiency and save money. This intuitive dashboard will enable restaurant managers to supervise multiple workflows simultaneously and understand any precise issues that might compromise the quality of food coming out of their kitchens.
- Supply Management:Closely monitors for any supply chain issues – using data to track problems with the food instead of relying on the person cooking it.
- Easy Installation
- Because CookRight was designed by restaurant people for restaurant people, the software comes with an easy self-installation kit that includes a user interface tablet, camera(s) and a small computer.
“The beauty of CookRight and its machine learning capabilities is that it can literally learn how to identify any item placed on a grill and know how long it needs to be cooked, moved or flipped in real-time,” said Buck Jordan, President and Chairman of Miso Robotics. “CookRight obtains unprecedented amounts of information on kitchen operations that have never been captured before – leading to better food for customers, a better workplace for kitchen staff and cost savings for restaurant owners. It’s the partner restaurant operators and staff need in the kitchen. This is a critical time for the industry and solutions like CookRight can truly turn the tide and move us into recovery.”
According to the National Association of Restaurants, tech adoption for the industry has rapidly accelerated during the pandemic. Across all 6 segments—quick service, fast casual, casual, family, fine dining, and coffee and snack—some 40% of operators said they added tech solutions to their businesses. Miso Robotics is leading the way in valuable solutions to bring the industry forward into a more promising future. Since the pandemic, interest in Miso Robotics has exploded.
Since the crowdfunding campaign launched on SeedInvest in April 2020, the company has raised more than $21 million and has become the highest-grossing technology deal ever featured on the crowdfunding platform. To invest in the future of intelligent kitchen automation visit https://invest.misorobotics.com/.
About Miso Robotics
Miso Robotics (www.misorobotics.com) is revolutionizing the restaurant and prepared food industries with innovative robotics and artificial intelligence solutions. Miso was founded with a mission to leverage AI technology to help chefs cook food perfectly and consistently and enable restaurants to increase labor productivity, reduce costs and drive profitability while improving the overall dining experience. Miso employs a respected team of scientists, roboticists, engineers and industrial designers from Caltech, Cornell, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Harvey Mudd, UCLA, USC, Art Center and UNC Chapel Hill. Miso Robotics is now taking reservations for their equity crowd-funding raise, to invest in the future of restaurant automation go to https://invest.misorobotics.com/
