Food Preparation Workers

Food prep work still relies mostly on people today. For example, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that Food Preparation Workers typically “weigh or measure ingredients”, “mix ingredients for salads”, and “take and record the temperature of food and … storage areas” ^[1]. In recent years some of those tasks have seen early robotic versions.

Companies like Miso Robotics built a machine called Flippy that can flip burgers and chicken wings, and there are automated pizza machines (e.g. PicnicWorks, Piestro, Stellar Pizza) that assemble and box pizzas ^{[2] [3]}. Salad-serving robots also exist: Sweetgreen plans outlets that largely automate salad-making (using tech from startup Spyce) ^[2], and researchers even taught a robot to chop and mix simple salads by watching cooking videos ^[4]. However, most of these machines are still in testing or special factories.

In everyday diners and cafeterias, humans still do these core tasks (often aided by simple machines like slicers or mixers).

Restaurants are interested in AI mainly because they face a big worker shortage and rising labor costs. For instance, about 75% of restaurant operators report staffing shortages ^[2]. This labor crunch has pushed chains to experiment with robots and smart machines.

But the high price and complexity of kitchen robots slow how fast they spread: experts note it may be years before automation “pays off” ^{[2] [2]}. Sweetgreen’s CEO has even said its salad robot will let him run stores with fewer workers ^[2]. On the other hand, many industry leaders stress that robots can free staff from the most repetitive chores, so people can focus on creative cooking and helping customers.

In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects food prep jobs will only dip slightly (about –3%) in the next decade ^[1]. That suggests people will still be needed for food prep even as some tasks change.