Complete Cooking Within 90 Seconds for Orders Like Gukbap and Deopbap
Expansion into Large Corporate Cafeterias and University Student Cafeterias
Pulmuone Seeks Future Food Opportunities in Food Tech
Pulmuone has completed the trademark application for its smart unmanned instant cooking platform, 'Chulchul Box Robot Chef,' and is set to fully launch its domestic business. Moving beyond the pilot operations at rest areas, the company plans to expand its presence to workplaces with high demand for unmanned platforms, such as corporate cafeterias and student dining halls.
According to the Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service (KIPRIS) of the Korean Intellectual Property Office on the 7th, Pulmuone recently completed the trademark application for Chulchul Box Robot Chef. The Chulchul Box Robot Chef is an unmanned instant cooking platform that Pulmuone showcased earlier this year at CES 2024, the world's largest IT exhibition. The device measures 1.9 meters in height and 1.0 meter in width. When consumers order frozen meal products such as gukbap (soup with rice), deopbap (rice bowl dishes), or noodles through a 15.6-inch screen, the robot cooks the food in about 90 seconds to complete the dish. To develop this, Pulmuone collaborated with the U.S.-based smart vending machine startup, Yokai Express. At CES 2024, the Chulchul Box Robot Chef’s dishes like Yukgaejang noodles, Tteokguk (rice cake soup), and Bulgogi deopbap received great acclaim from visitors worldwide.
Starting with the trademark application, Pulmuone will actively pursue its unmanned sales platform business domestically. Currently, the Chulchul Box Robot Chef is being piloted at seven locations, including highway rest areas and large outdoor cafes operated by Pulmuone Food & Culture. Going forward, the company plans to expand installations to various workplaces with high demand for unmanned dining, such as large corporate cafeterias and university student dining halls. A Pulmuone representative stated, "With the trademark application, the business is becoming full-scale, and additional installations are scheduled for March," adding, "Chulchul Box Robot Chef will be a successful food tech case that combines global startup technology with Pulmuone’s unmanned platform."
Pulmuone is one of the domestic food companies with significant interest in food tech. Viewing food tech as a future growth engine, it is integrating various software and hardware solutions. Last year, it developed 'PulmuoneGPT,' a customer chatbot that was the first in the food industry to incorporate ChatGPT. Recently, considering the nature of the food industry where product information changes due to environmental factors such as raw material supply, Pulmuone introduced an 'Online Mall Product Information Monitoring Automation System.' This system uses artificial intelligence (AI) to detect and correct discrepancies between the product information printed on packaging and the actual information.
Additionally, at rest areas operated by Pulmuone Food & Culture, a stir-fry specialized robot called 'Robot Wok' has been introduced to reduce the burden on chefs who repeatedly use heavy woks. Based on cooking algorithm data, Robot Wok automates motions such as shaking the wok when chefs stir-fry vegetables in oil, turning on the heat and adjusting the flame, and adding oil. At Ansan Rest Area, consumers can experience a unique food service where small gimbap ordered on the first floor is prepared on the second floor and delivered via a pneumatic tube system.
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