It's a scene which may once have come straight from a sci-fi movie – a series of metal machines move in sync to arrange hot bowls of wagyu and pork belly.
The robots are amongst them Olhso Korean BBQ and seafood trucka brand new mobile restaurant that opened six weeks ago in Foster City for delivery. The idea: reduce costs by having just one driver operate the truck and cook food on the technique to the delivery location to supply hot, quick meals.
Behind the bots is Jay Shin, a former technology investor who has dedicated his talents to the food industry. Born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, Shin founded Olhso KBBQ (they usually are not related) with CEO Kish Shin (they usually are not related) and moved to the Bay Area a number of months ago along with his wife and 11-year-old son Monitor startup.
We recently asked Jay Shin about Olhso KBBQ. His answers have been edited for length and clarity.
Q: How did the thought for a robot food truck come about?
A: I've been an enormous foodie all my life – as you’ll be able to see, I'm a fairly large guy. I'm a fairly good cook too. That's why I've at all times had the ambition to open some form of restaurant business, though I began my profession as a financial investor. I've been a worldwide technology investor for 12 years, so I at all times give attention to latest technologies – what's the brand new trend, what's the brand new technology?
As an investor, I covered robotics for six years. Previously, robotics was only utilized in upstream industries like automotive manufacturing and shipbuilding, but I feel 2016/17 was actually the tipping point as robotics became cheaper and smaller. So many applications began floating around, and that's when I spotted: Okay, the robotics industry is finally falling into the downstream industries.
We founded our company in 2019 and my business partner, who can also be our co-founder and CEO, Kish, ran a Korean barbecue franchise restaurant within the US. Kish has experience running this company within the USA, and I actually know what form of robotics must be manufactured.
Q: Why cook food with robots?
A: The U.S. restaurant industry's profit margin has only decreased yearly. In the subsequent five to seven years, U.S. restaurants will likely move to a zero-sum game.
And the result’s that restaurant owners don't wish to hire more staff since the margin is so low.
Samsung headquarters is rolling out our food robotics of their cafeteria – they got here to us and said, “Hey, we have 1500 people in the cafeteria serving lunch, breakfast and dinner to our employees on campus.” And the workforce turnover rate is over 90%, meaning that 1,400 latest staff should be hired yearly. And it's just so expensive, because within the kitchen the staff needs to be trained for 2 or three months, after which they get used to the menu, after which they work for a number of months after which leave. This may be very repetitive. And across the US restaurant industry, regardless of what country you're talking about, this can be a very significant issue.
If you look inside our truck, there’s a completely automated robot kitchen inside. And we only need one worker, namely a driver.
Q: What is the profit for purchasers?
A: In fact, the food delivery industry has an even bigger problem than simply the restaurant industry because firstly, the food quality is the worst of all of the food service categories since it takes 45 to 90 minutes, so your food gets cold. And you continue to should pay around 25-30% on top of the associated delivery and repair fees.
So what we’ve achieved with a robotic kitchen in our truck is that it might probably cook on the technique to the shopper's location in order that our food is prepared at the identical time of arrival. This way we guarantee that the food we provide is at all times hot and fresh and at a less expensive price.
By the best way, our chef is voted the most effective Korean grill chef in Korea. So we wanted to really recreate his recipe in our robot kitchen in order that it will at all times be pre-programmed. What happens then is that regardless of what the order, we be sure that the standard of the food is at all times the identical because the chef originally intended. So there isn’t a error; It is at all times a consistent output.
Q: Why Korean barbecue?
A: Kish, who knows Korean barbecue, knew how explosive this barbecue can be within the United States. He actually enjoyed that moment in 2016, 17, 18 when boy band BTS was really successful within the States. So BTS was the important catalyst for Korean barbecue becoming popular within the USA. We saw this chance and thought if we were going to do a Korean food market within the US, it will should be Korean barbecue because that shall be the representation of Korean food.
Just like sushi means Japanese – there are such a lot of other Japanese foods, but what do you’re thinking that of if you consider Japanese food? Sushi might be the very first thing that involves mind, right? So I feel Korean barbecue is a powerful keyword that we would like to keep on with as a business model.
Q: Do you remember the primary time you tried food prepared by robots?
A: It was terrible. First, I asked: What was the purpose of constructing this expensive robot to supply such poor quality food? I mean, it's like fast food quality. Then what's the purpose of turning it right into a robot kitchen?
Food quality has evolved over time.
Q: How do people just like the food?
A: The commonest feedback we get is at any time when people try our food, they are saying, “Wow, this is restaurant quality – this food is as good as a high-end Korean barbecue restaurant in the US.” And that gave me loads of confidence.
Q: You said you had an 11-year-old son; Is he a fan of the mobile restaurant?
A: Yes, after all. He says it's very cool. I mean, kids love robotics.
Jay Shin
Age: 41
Position: Co-founder and CSO/CFO of Olhso Korean BBQ & Seafood
Residence: Menlo Park
Education: Hanyang University, major in electrical engineering
Hometown: Seoul, South Korea
5 Things You Should Know About Jay Shin
- Shin owns two dogs, Lea and Gundam.
- To relieve stress, he plays basketball and the video game Overwatch along with his family.
- His favorite dish on the Olhso menu: Dak Galbi (spicy fried chicken).
- What he likes best about living within the Bay Area: the weather.
- He met his co-founder Kish Shin while attending highschool in Virginia.
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