German Doner Kebab is rolling out robotic kitchens in a bid to cut costs and boost labour productivity.
The fast-casual kebab brand has been installing ‘smart kitchens’ that need less staff on hand. It is also trialling robotic meat shavers in select sites and has scrapped table service, The Telegraph reported.
German Doner Kebab CEO Simon Wallis told the newspaper: “We've said to our franchisees this year that we want to improve their labour productivity by 20% to get costs down. So we're doing that by remodelling our kitchens.”
He noted that the company had faced added pressures, including National Insurance increases, as announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in last year's October budget.
Wallis argued that further automation in the kitchen could improve the quality of the kebab chain's products, noting the skill needed to shave a skewer combined with the speed needed to fulfil orders on a weekend night.
He added that the decision to axe table service aligned with the brand's primary customer – Gen Z – who were ordering more often via self-service kiosks.
Since the launch of its first UK store in 2015, German Doner Kebab has expanded to almost 150 sites.
Last year, the restaurant chain hired two new senior leaders to support its growth, including former McDonald's UK finance manager Tommy Edmond as CFO and former Papa John's property and business development director Amit Pancholi as franchise development director.
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