Panera Bread to Begin Testing AI Cfor Drive-Through Orders

Can artificial intelligence (AI) help prepare your take-out meal? While we may still be a few years off full automation of fast food, AI does have a place in the customer experience, at least according to popular chain Panera Bread, and the company is investing in this belief.

Panera has announced that, beginning this week, several restaurants will begin testing AI technology in their drive-through lanes with a goal to improve and enhance the guest experience. With support from OpenCity, several Panera sites in the greater Rochester, New York area have implemented OpenCity’s proprietary voice AI ordering technology, called “Tori”, for drive-through orders, with the goal of maximizing efficiency and increasing speed of orders. Guests at Panera Bread cafes in Greece, New York (800 Greece Ridge Center Drive) and Webster, New York (935 Holt Rd) will be the first Panera customers to interact with “Tori.”

“At Panera, improving our guest experience is always our priority and we are using this innovative technology to help enable a faster, more accurate order for each of our drive-through guests,” said Debbie Roberts, EVP and chief operating officer at Panera Bread.

The OpenCity solution called “Tori” was designed to take 100 percent of orders and integrate with a restaurant’s point-of-service, kitchen display system (KDS), headsets, and speaker posts.

“Tori” will take orders in the same manner than human workers take orders at the drive-through speaker, with Panera associates on standby to assist if needed to troubleshoot any issues. Drive-through guests can pull up to their Panera drive-through window, place their order as usual with assistance from Tori and pay the Panera associate for their meals. The addition of this technology at the drive-through is expected to help to cut down wait times, improve order accuracy and allow associates to focus on preparing customer orders.

“The potential of AI drive-through technology is incredibly exciting for us – we are eager to evaluate the performance of these tests and the possibility of expanding this technology in additional bakery-cafes” added Roberts.

Today, Panera Bread has 2,116 bakery-cafes, company and franchise, in 48 states and Ontario, Canada.

Edited by Erik Linask