Bruu Bros Coffee Bot, BreadBot Premiere at IDDBA 2023

Aerofarms declares bankruptcy, RestoGPT launches

Last week the country’s top grocers came together at IDDBA 2023 in Anaheim, California. Besides football fields worth of delicious dairy and bread samples, a number of automated grocery solutions were on display, including the world premiere of Bruu Bros’ coffee robot. Reflecting on how automation is becoming ever more important to the grocery sector, IDDBA VP of Marketing Whitney Atkins highlighted that at the event “Automation and technology intersected from keynote addresses to robotics and AI in the phenomenal What’s In Store Live experience. Technology and AI were front and center. Showcasing how embracing technologies from robotics in producing products and experiences to saving consumers and retailers alike time and money dominated the space. From AI training to marketing through e-commerce and apps, the future of or industry relies on what we do today with innovation and technology.”

Bruu Bros Premieres Coffee Robot

At first glance, Bruu Bros appears to be offering yet another automated coffee stand powered by a six-axis arm. But after OttOmate chatted with founders Avya Shukla and Sanat Sharma, it was clear there was more to the story than first meets the eye. For starters, Avya and Sanat are both college freshmen, who snuck away from their dorm rooms for a few days to premiere their concept at IDDBA. The two founders also pride themselves on the brew their robot makes, as the accredited coffee-roasters traveled the world to select the perfect beans for their machines. Hestia, supplier of the C1 robotic arm and enclosure, was also on hand to support the launch.

BreadBot Turns Heads

Wilkinson Baking Company, recently in the news as it raises its Series A, turned heads at IDDBA as it automatically baked bread right on the exhibition floor. Baking up to 10 loaves per hour, the machine is meant for grocers looking to have fresh bread available throughout the day, with dramatically less food and ingredient waste than manual solutions.

Picadeli, Badger, Apex

A number of other solutions were on display, for both the front and back of house. France’s Picadeli presented a very en vogue robotic salad bar. Badger Technologies’ aisle-scanning sentry made a formidable presence. Apex Motion Control showed how robots can relieve workers of some of the most mundane tasks imaginable.

In Other News

Outside the IDDBA event grounds, it was another busy week for the robotics and automation industry. Sweetgreen announced its Infinite Kitchen automated makeline would eventually power every one of its locations. Indoor vertical farmer AeroFarms could no longer fight the gravity of produce economics, and filed for bankruptcy. RobotLab looks to start franchising. Baozza showed off its pizza-bao vending machine. E-con added multi-camera support for its Qualcomm RB5 kit. And just this morning, RestoGPT launched on ProductHunt, bringing AI-powered ordering and storefront building to local restaurateurs. (Disclosure: Ottmate Publisher Jonah Bliss is an advisor to RestoGPT’s parent company Orderbyte.)