‘Robot Touch’ Chicken Lord... "Zero Labor Cost '1-Person Franchise' Challenge"

'Chicken Robot' Startup RoboArte... Fries 40-50 Chickens Per Hour
Two Stores Generate Daily Sales of 2.5 Million KRW... Operable as a One-Person Franchise
"Franchise Business to Start in Second Half"... Plans to Enter Southeast Asian Market

[Asia Economy Reporter Junhyung Lee] RoboArte is a food tech startup that creates ‘chicken robots.’ They have developed a collaborative robot brand for cooking chicken called ‘Robert Chicken’ and currently operate directly managed stores in Nonhyeon-dong and Gaepo-dong, Seoul. CEO Ji-Young Kang (pictured) aims to establish a ‘one-person franchise.’ The goal is to build an automated chicken cooking solution that allows a single owner to run the store alone, achieving zero labor costs.

Robert Chicken stores can be operated by just one or two employees. This is possible because the collaborative robot handles the repetitive and hazardous task of cooking chicken. The sales method has been simplified by only accepting delivery and kiosk (unmanned terminal) orders for takeout. The Robert Chicken robot can fry 40 to 50 chickens per hour. According to the company, except during peak times such as busy evenings, one employee is sufficient to manage the store without difficulty.

CEO Kang saw the potential of chicken robots while working at a venture capital (VC) firm. As a VC analyst searching for growth companies, he came across the U.S. food tech startup ‘Spyce.’ Spyce operates a restaurant where robots developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) graduates cook food. Kang said, "Spyce attracted investments from SoftBank Ventures and others, gaining recognition for its growth potential," adding, "Recently, competitors have also emerged domestically, such as Kyochon Chicken adopting collaborative robots."

Kang Ji-young, CEO of Roboarte, operating the chicken robot franchise 'Robert Chicken'.
[Photo by Roboarte]

The company has been operating two directly managed stores since early last year, going through trial and error. Initially, the chicken robot was installed on the floor, but to expand the robot’s range of motion, it was attached to the ceiling in the second store. However, due to ceiling structure modifications and the robot’s weight, conflicts with the building owner were unavoidable. Since the food and beverage service sector has not yet fully embraced collaborative robots, there were few reference cases. CEO Kang concluded, "After operating the second store, we realized that chicken robots ultimately need to be treated as ‘home appliances,’" and added, "Based on our operational experience, we will start franchising from the end of this year."

The sales at the directly managed stores are solid. According to RoboArte, daily sales at the first store are about 1 million KRW, and the second store about 1.5 million KRW. The two stores are approximately 33㎡ (10 pyeong) and 50㎡ (15 pyeong) in size, respectively. This also means that consumers have recognized the taste of chicken fried by robots.

Requests for collaboration continue to come in. Recently, a platform company approached CEO Kang for advice. Kang explained, "Inquiries from companies considering the introduction of collaborative robots are increasing," and added, "Recently, a startup asked about the effectiveness of adopting collaborative robots and Robert Chicken’s know-how."

Overseas expansion is also planned. The company is considering opening a directly managed store in Singapore around June next year. CEO Kang stated, "‘K-Chicken’ is already popular in Southeast Asia," and added, "We plan to use Singapore as a base to accelerate our entry into the Southeast Asian market, including Malaysia."