Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.
A new robot promises to make the dream of oven-fresh bread every 6 minutes a reality
A new robot promises to make the dream of oven-fresh bread every 6 minutes a reality
Ben GilbertJan 8, 2019, 06:01 IST
Advertisement
Wilkinson Baking Company
A new device named the "BreadBot" is said to have a staggering bread production capability: six loaves per hour, and nearly 250 per day, with barely any human intervention, according to the company behind it.
Unless you're feeding hundreds of people, the BreadBot probably isn't for you - it's aimed at disrupting the supermarket bread model.
The company behind the BreadBot, Wilkinson Baking Company, debuted the device on Sunday at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Fresh bread, as we all know, is delicious.
But what's even better than fresh bread? Loaves of bread produced magically by a robot, over and over, every six minutes. The only input required: Maintaining a steady supply of flour, yeast, and water.
This is the promise of the "BreadBot" - a newly unveiled creation from Wilkinson Baking Company, which debuted this past weekend ahead of the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
As you might suspect, the BreadBot isn't for the casual home baker. Here's how it works:
First, some numbers — here's what BreadBot can do:
The BreadBot is an all-in-one, automated solution for bread production. It's intended to automate the process of baking fresh bread, and to keep it going all day.
To that end, the BreadBot can purportedly produce 10 loaves of fresh bread every hour, with about 90 minutes of start time required before the first fresh loaf comes out.
With a 30 minute rest (for cleaning) and the occasional ingredient re-supply, Wilkinson Baking Company estimates BreadBot's production capacity at approximately 235 loaves of fresh bread every day.
That's a serious amount of bread!
Loaves are deposited into what is essentially a large vending machine, albeit one full of fresh loaves of bread.
After bread is mixed, kneaded, proofed, and baked, it's sent to the final holding area where customers can walk up and select fresh bread by hand.
It wouldn't be a modern piece of tech without a touchscreen, and BreadBot is no slouch in this regard. A touchscreen display offers detailed information about each loaf, including how fresh it is and what type of bread it is.
In one example given, customers can grab loaves of bread directly from the machine:
In another instance, it's demonstrated as a means of production used by employees:
As delicious as bread is, 235 loaves every day is probably too much for anyone.
Which is the unfortunate reason that BreadBot is positioned as a tool for supermarkets.
"Retailers using the BreadBot can benefit from a potential 20-fold lift in bottom line profit margins through the elimination of the costly current bread distribution process," the press release announcing BreadBot says. "As well benefiting from increased consumer interest and maximized employee productivity."
Wilkinson Baking Company envisions the robot being used directly with consumers, or simply as a means of production — handled by employees — in the back of a store. Perhaps the bread gets purposed for sandwiches in the supermarket's deli department, rather than removed directly from the machine by hungry customers.
The BreadBot is coming to a store near you — it's just not clear where exactly that is just yet.
To see the magical bread robot in action, check out the video below:
