From Robots to Drones... Food Industry's Growing Expectations for IT Commercialization↑

A Domino's Pizza representative is showcasing drone delivery service in Sejong City on the 22nd. Photo by Domino's Pizza

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] The food industry is strengthening contactless services by adopting various IT technologies such as robots and drones.

A prime example is Domino's Pizza, which recently commercialized drone delivery services for the first time in Korea in Sejong City.

Since the 22nd, Domino's Pizza has been operating drone delivery services at the Sejong Boram branch for round-trip distances within 6 km and flight times of around 25 minutes.

The drone delivery service is available when ordering delivery through the official Domino's Pizza application (app), selecting Domino's Spot, and designating Sejong Hosu Park, a drone-exclusive Domino's Spot. However, the products available for drone delivery orders are limited to Domino's Pizza set menus and the service is only available on weekends.

After commercializing the drone delivery service on weekends in Sejong City until October 31, the company plans to consider expanding operations to Seoul and the metropolitan area.

Kyochon Chicken has introduced collaborative robots in its stores. The photo shows an employee using a collaborative robot to cook chicken at the Songdo 8 Gonggu branch on the 24th. Photo by Kyochon Chicken

Kyochon F&B introduced a collaborative robot at the Kyochon Chicken Songdo 8 District branch on the 24th.

A collaborative robot is a robot that can work in the same space as humans and physically interact with them. It was developed in collaboration with Doosan Robotics, a robot specialist company. After a five-month commercialization phase starting in March this year, the robot was designed to perform the second frying process directly during cooking.

Kyochon Chicken fries its raw meat twice to reduce moisture and oil content, enhancing its unique lightness and crispiness. The second frying performed by the collaborative robot involves complex processes such as piece shaping. Kyochon plans to expand the robot system to automate the entire cooking process, including the first frying and sauce application. Through this, they aim to improve operational efficiency at franchise stores and increase customer satisfaction with consistent quality.

A GS Retail employee is receiving products ordered through the GS25 robot delivery service. Photo by GS Retail

GS25 has become the first in the industry to start a service where an AI-equipped robot directly delivers products ordered via smartphone at a store located within LG Science Park.

The robot delivery service begins when customers order GS25 products through KakaoTalk's order function. Once the order is completed and customer information is sent to the GS25 store, the store staff loads the products onto the robot and inputs the customer information (contact) and destination (building floor).

The robot measures 50 cm in width, 50 cm in depth, and 130 cm in height, and through three drawers mounted on its body, it can deliver up to 15 kg of products in one trip to multiple (three) locations. The travel time from the GS25 store to the farthest delivery destination within LG Science Park (9th floor) is about 5 minutes (excluding peak hours), and unlike existing delivery services, there is no additional delivery fee.