Technology

Americana Restaurants adds robotics to flagship Wimpy location

June 16, 2022

Americana Restaurants, a master franchisee known for bringing global brands such as KFC, Pizza Hut, Hardee's, Krispy Kreme and TGI Friday's to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), has announced a partnership with Miso Robotics. The collaboration will begin with a piloted test of Flippy 2 at Americana Restaurants' flagship Wimpy location in The Dubai Mall, according to a press release.

The Flippy 2 is a robotics solution that can independently do the work of an entire fry station. It's set for integration and expansion across other Americana restaurants in the months ahead. The brand currently has 17 active stores across the MENA region and up to 50 additional ones planned.

"Americana Restaurants' partnership with Miso Robotics marks a significant milestone for the company as we continue to strive to address shifting customer behaviors and preferences through state-of-the-art, innovative solutions," Melvin Michael, brand director for Wimpy, said in the press release. "As the first QSR operator in the MENA region to introduce the use of robotics in its kitchens, Americana Restaurants continues to show its commitment to delivering unique dining experiences to customers at their favorite iconic brands."

"In the past year, we've announced partnerships with some of the largest brands in the U.S., and that momentum has led to us being pulled internationally to introduce our technology on a global scale," Mike Bell, CEO of Miso Robotics, said in the release. "Americana Restaurants' push to scale robotics in their operations is a testament to their superb operating capability in the MENA region. This is a true partnership that we see blossoming for many years to come and we wanted to make sure the market was right for future deployment at additional locations. The time is now to take Flippy global, and we have a great partner to do it with."