Food service providers are adopting automation and tech to ensure food safety and good health of employees

Unlike the pre-pandemic stage, use of technology to keep up with the new normal shifted to automation

Chennai, 27 October 2021, While most of the organization are getting back to normal, cafeterias and food services providers are relying on digitalization and automation as the new precautionary measure in day-to-day operations. 

As corporates and industries are settling themselves in the new normal, technology is playing a prominent role in digitizing the process starting from food production to consumption while also enforcing social distancing norms. We see that the cafeterias are also evidencing a lot of digitalization and automation, in the areas of payment and order processing through digital solutions.

On the production front, newer methods and technologies are coming into picture for various areas such as i) reducing the amount of contact that goes into food production, ii) on how we procure and manage our inventory, iii) on managing waste, iv) and how we work with ingredients that are fresh and locally sourced as far as possible.  Every food dispatched is weighed, and at the end of the meal also wastage is weighed at the sites to ensure food wastage is within the permissible limits. Wherever we have the facility, we have composting machines to convert food waste which can be used as manure for the green cover. Soon, we look forward to use AI enabled tech solutions to efficiently track, reduce, and eliminate our bin and pan waste.

Adding to this Mr. D.R.E Reddy, CEO and Managing Partner at CRCL LLP says, “Usage of technology will enhance the nutritive value of the food and to monitor calorific intake of employees. This will help us in recipe development for boosting immunity and health in general through natural means, as also enhancing the sensitivity of employees towards consuming healthy food. Another major alteration that we have brought in is to fine tune our menu and recipes to break monotony, kill food fatigue and in the process use this opportunity to deliver nutritious food with the motto of health first, taste next.” 

In the post-production stage that otherwise is largely manual, we are witnessing considerable amount of automation. There is going to be an increase in solutions for these process in cafeterias with heavy footfalls. This would involve automation in the movement of used plate, automation in the washing process and automation in the stacking, post washing. 

So, if we were to break down the automation process into four distinct parts: first is Storage where we put raw material and there we see that there is limited opportunity, second is Production where there is significant opportunity both in terms of how we chop to how we mix, leaving of course how you actually cook, the third being how food is dispensed which is in terms of post-production where we can look at solutions for reduction of contact points in dispensing food, and last but not the least is post consumption which is the removal of used trays and its washing.