Campus cafeterias have a heavy daily schedule, and chefs are busy during peak mealtimes, not only preparing delicious food, but also maintaining efficient food delivery rates and strict hygiene standards. Against this backdrop, what would it be like if the role of the chef were to be assumed by a robot?
Circus SE, a leader in automated kitchen systems, recently announced that it will deploy a vast network of 5,400 food production robots at 92 educational institutions in Beijing. These robots are expected to produce nearly 4 billion fresh meals per year, providing convenient and efficient catering services for students in Beijing.
▍"First stop" Beijing! Will it be rolled out nationwide in the future?
Recently, Circus SE deepened its cooperation with the Food Ingredient Sourcing Center of Peking University and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to officially launch this program. Although the MOU is not legally binding, it lays the foundation for future cooperation between the two parties.
Under the agreement, the two companies will work together to build an autonomous supply system powered by a CA-1 robot, which is expected to produce more than 10 million meals per day for educational institutions in Beijing, thereby fully supporting the food needs of students. The cooperation between Circus and the Procurement Center will be progressed in phases: in the first phase, the two parties will carry out joint test operations within the university, aiming to lay a solid foundation for the further promotion of the CA-1 robot, and from this phase, Circus will receive exclusive market access; Subsequently, the Procurement Center will support Circus in promoting the CA-1 food production robot to various educational institutions across the country. In the future growth phase, the Procurement Center will further help Circus roll out the CA-1 robot to 4,000 educational institutions nationwide, serving a total of 60 million students.
In this regard, Nikolas Bullwinkel, CEO of Circus Group, said that the signing of this memorandum of understanding is an important milestone for Circus and the global catering autonomous service. This partnership will not only help Circus build and expand its own supply network, but is also expected to generate billions of euros in revenue for the company in the coming years, while achieving its goal of producing nearly 4 billion fresh meals per year. More importantly, through this partnership, they will provide balanced meals to millions of students in China and significantly improve food safety and operational efficiency in university canteens.
Liu Zhigang, director of the Joint Procurement Center for Food Ingredients at Peking University, said that the partnership with Circus is an important step in developing an automated and efficient food supply system that will provide students with high-quality, low-cost meals and improve their quality of life.
▍Eliminate all manual processes? "Cyber Mechanical Chef" CA-1
The CA-1 food production robot is cleverly designed to produce high-quality meals quickly and accurately without human intervention, and its operation complexity and cost are far lower than industry standards.
According to Circus, the CA-1 is a fully automated food production robot that can efficiently and independently complete the entire process of ingredient distribution, cooking, cleaning and packaging. It is worth mentioning that it has a very small footprint of only 20 square meters (215.2 square feet), which is very space-saving.
The CA-1 is a scalable, modular kitchen robot system designed to revolutionize the way kitchens work, eliminating all manual processes. Equipped with two robotic arms, 50 motors and 25 light grids, this unique design takes the cooking process to a whole new level of autonomy.
Versatile and powerful, the CA-1 automates the cooking process through a combination of high-tech cooking stations, rotary pots and intelligent management systems to ensure optimal food taste and further enhance the overall quality of cooking with the help of leading menu sensing technology. At the same time, the CA-1 integrates an innovative food dispensing system developed by Circus, which utilizes color-coded silo technology to ensure high accuracy and consistency in ingredient dispensing. In addition, through a partnership with industry leader Winterhalter and the introduction of the UC series of dishwashers with integrated control software, the CA-1 fully automated the dishwashing process. In order to maintain the strict hygiene requirements of the kitchen, Circus has specially equipped the CA-1 with an advanced cooling system, which stabilizes the temperature at 5-7°C through a precise air conditioning system to ensure the safety of raw materials, and accurately delivers cold air to critical areas by optimizing airflow and temperature distribution.
Circus emphasises that CA-1 not only reduces production costs and food waste, but also ensures excellent cooking quality and hygiene standards on a sustainable basis.
▍AI-powered software ecosystem: Circus OS
The CA-1 runs on Circus OS, Circus OS, CircusGroup's proprietary operating system. By digitally managing all operational processes and incorporating artificial intelligence technology, the system aims to improve operational efficiency, ensure quality, and enhance customer satisfaction.
With this state-of-the-art system, kitchen processes have been revolutionized and Circus OS enables fast, precise and high-quality meal preparation. Circus OS significantly reduces operational complexity and cost compared to industry peers, providing comprehensive digital control over all operational processes. From inventory management to product handover, all links are finely managed, specifically:
1. In terms of management control, managers and franchisees can easily view store performance data, staff efficiency and inventory status, so as to achieve full control of daily operations. At the same time, Circus guides managers to follow HACCP regulations to ensure food safety.
2. The kitchen display system uses Circus' AI to-do list management to control the cooking process, intelligently group orders and dishes, and execute tasks in parallel. Through well-designed algorithms, we effectively reduce idle time and maximize the output of dishes at any time.
3. When it comes to fulfillment solutions, every item and fresh meal is equipped with smart labels that ensure control of the highest quality standards and automatically match dishes to orders.
4. Handover: Circus' software solutions can intelligently optimize the handover process with third-party service partners. Overall efficiency is improved through seamless, contactless order handover, as well as effective management of all last-mile stakeholders.
In addition, Circus OS generates billions of new recipes in a matter of seconds. Based on a wealth of ingredients and millions of data points, Circus automates the cooking development process with AI solutions that significantly speed up meal preparation and increase efficiency. Specific features include:
1.AI Dish Generation: Leveraging generative AI, Circus OS's in-house dish generation tool seamlessly produces detailed recipes, visual content, and cost estimates.
2. AI Forecasting: With intelligent order backlog management and order grouping, Circus OS can execute tasks in parallel and minimize preparation time.
3.AI Recommendations (Beta): This feature provides personalized menu recommendations in real time, using intelligent algorithms to balance user preferences and external factors to meet the personalized needs of consumers.
4. AI Chef: As the food industry's first AI commerce solution, AI generates meal options for each consumer.
▍ About Circus
Founded in 2021, Circus is a robotics company based in Hamburg, Germany, dedicated to transforming the foodservice industry with AI-powered robots. The company has a diverse team of 75 employees from 28 different nationalities and 4 locations around the world.
The Circus team brings together leading thinkers in robotics, artificial intelligence, and engineering, and works with industry-leading partners to drive industry change. Prior to founding Circus, CEO and founder Nikolas Bullwinkel co-founded Flink, Europe's leading fast-moving commerce company, which grew into a $2.85 billion business with approximately 12,000 employees. Chief Commercial Officer Carsten Wille is the founder and former CEO of etepetete, a food subscription e-commerce company, with more than a decade of leadership experience in the European market. Chief Technology OfficerDr. Helge Plehn holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and was a member of the Executive Board of the business intelligence consulting firm Initions AG. CFO Fabian Becker is a co-founder and partner of the flagship founder of the maritime venture capital firm and previously held a management position at Reederei Auerbach Schiffahrt.
Together, these team members have extensive experience in their respective fields of expertise and drive Circus' vision of a global network of automated kitchens that will transform the foodservice industry through artificial intelligence to ensure a nutritionally balanced and convenient dining experience for everyone.
▍About Peking University Joint Procurement Center for Food Raw Materials
Founded in 2001, the Peking University Food Raw Materials Joint Procurement Center has been adhering to the core concept of ensuring food quality and safety since its establishment, carefully procuring raw materials for university canteens. Under the careful guidance of China's Ministry of Education and industry committees, the center is committed not only to improving the quality of food, but also to improving the quality of life of students and staff.