The South Korea-based restaurant Bb.q Chicken plans to test in-person kiosk ordering as well as online ordering and pickup, according to Restaurant Business, as part of its Smart Kitchen format.
“That seems to be the trend with restaurants nationwide: as little interaction as possible is the goal and making it convenient,” said Joseph Kim, CEO of Bb.q USA Inc.
The testing will take place later this year at locations in Englewood, New Jersey. The Korean-style fried chicken chain is also stepping into robotics as it will also begin testing robot servers and an automated robot arm for frying.
Bb.q Chicken has 3,500 locations globally with 115 in the U.S. and plans to grow that number with 250 additional units by the end of next year. The chain specializes in fried chicken with traditional Korean sides like ddeok-bokki and kimchi fried rice.
“Our chicken tastes exactly like it does in Seoul. They don’t change the recipe. A lot of brands try to change the product,” said Kim. “We try to keep the authenticity alive.”
Attend the 2023 Chicken Marketing Summit
Ordering kiosks and robots are just some of the ways the fast-food industry is taking customer service to the next level. Other technologies include automated drive thrus, virtual kitchens, the metaverse and more.
“It can take some stress off the staff, especially when we’re all in a situation where staffing is definitely tough,” Kelley Bailie Fechner, director, customer solutions, Datassential noted at the 2022 Chicken Marketing Summit.
The 2023 Chicken Marketing Summit will be held at Hotel Effie Sandestin in Miramar Beach, Florida on Monday, July 31 – Wednesday, August 2, 2023. Serving a unique cross section of the chicken supply chain, Chicken Marketing Summit explores issues and trends in food marketing and consumer chicken consumption patterns and purchasing behavior.
For more information and to attend, visit: www.wattglobalmedia.com/chickenmarketingsummit/.
