Behind the order explosion of Liu Qiangdong's "7Fresh Kitchen": The cooking robot enterprise is being visited in queues.

Image source: Visual China

Recently, the newly opened JD.com's "Qixian Xiaochu" in Dongsi Paifang, Beijing, saw a surge in orders right after its opening. Inside the transparent kitchen, three robots were efficiently operating four woks, and the operator only needed to put in pre - prepared food ingredient packages. Within just a few hours, the order queue number exceeded 700. The food pick - up area was crowded with anxious riders, vividly demonstrating the waiting pressure brought by the strong demand.

This booming start was not accidental. As a key project of JD.com's 1 - billion - yuan initiative to recruit "dish partners", the core model of "robot cooking + exclusive takeaway service" of "Qixian Xiaochu" directly addresses the long - standing efficiency pain points in the Chinese cuisine industry. Its initial success not only validates the commercial feasibility of robot cooking but also brings commercial cooking robots into the public eye.

The rapid growth of this model precisely meets the current urgent need of the Chinese cuisine industry for cost reduction and efficiency improvement, which has become the core driving force for the accelerated implementation of cooking robots. A relevant person in charge of a catering data company revealed to a reporter from Lanjing Technology: "This year, it has become normal for chain catering enterprises to line up to visit cooking robot companies." He gave an example that a chain noodle shop owner has sought cooperation, planning to achieve the goal of rapidly expanding to a thousand stores with the help of robot technology.

The market enthusiasm is strongly supported by data. According to the monitoring of Aowei Cloud Network, in 2024, the online sales volume of cooking robots in China reached 290 million yuan, and the sales volume was about 140,000 units, a significant year - on - year increase of 54.4%. Capital has also taken action. Xianglu Technology, the cooking robot supplier for "Qixian Xiaochu", has received exclusive Series A and strategic - round investments from JD.com. Similar enterprises such as Xiangke Intelligence and Zhigu Tianchu have also recently announced their financing progress.

In fact, in the past year, robots with cooking capabilities have been pouring into the catering industry at an accelerating pace. From the Mobile ALOHA demonstrated by a Chinese team from Stanford, which is capable of making complex dishes, to the claim of Tineco's "Shiwan Xingchu" that "one person can operate five devices and reduce the kitchen area by 50%", technological iterations are constantly expanding their application boundaries.

Cooking robots reshape the cost structure of Chinese cuisine - cutting rent in half and reducing labor by 60%

It is reported that the Chinese cuisine industry is facing chronic problems such as rising labor costs, a worsening shortage of chefs, and inconsistent flavors caused by manual operations. Against this backdrop, solutions centered on supply - chain reconstruction and automation technology, especially cooking robots, are regarded as the key breakthroughs for achieving standardized production.

How do cooking robots solve these pain points? A relevant person in charge of Tineco told a reporter from Lanjing Technology: "The core of cooking robots lies in having an intelligent system and standardized recipes." This system can precisely control the cooking process, ensuring that each dish has a stable flavor up to the hotel - level standard, thus effectively eliminating the flavor fluctuations caused by manual operations. In terms of efficiency, a single device can serve a dish in just 2 - 3 minutes. More importantly, through the innovative model of 'one person coordinating the operation of 5 - 6 devices', the overall kitchen efficiency is increased by 30% compared with traditional kitchens, and labor costs are significantly reduced by 60%, alleviating the pressure from the two "cost mountains" of rent and labor.

Even in the face of peak - hour challenges, cooking robots can handle them calmly. "The cooking robot system supports the coordinated work of 'one person + multiple devices' and can intelligently allocate tasks according to the order priority, ensuring high - efficiency and stable food - serving capabilities when multiple devices operate in parallel," the above - mentioned person in charge added.

According to a reporter from Lanjing Technology, the chain catering brand Xiaocaiyuan has deployed cooking robots in its 660 stores across the country. Its prospectus clearly states that cooking robot technology is the key to achieving "precise operation and seasoning and stable dish taste" and plans to invest 100 million yuan to purchase about 2,000 more devices, fully demonstrating the significant progress and market confidence in the large - scale application of this technology solution.

The optimization of the cost structure provides more direct evidence. The owner of a restaurant in Shenzhen that mainly relies on cooking robots told a reporter from Lanjing Technology: "With at least two devices operating in coordination, the restaurant's daily food - serving volume exceeds 500 servings. The daily repurchase rate of the black - pepper beef fillet rice priced at 28 yuan is as high as 47%."

Another restaurant operator using this model provided a specific cost comparison. In the traditional small - store model, the monthly rent was about 20,000 yuan, and the combined salary of two chefs was about 18,000 yuan. After adopting the robot solution, the kitchen area was significantly reduced, saving a lot of rent. According to his calculation, it only takes about half a year to cover the initial investment cost of the devices.

Cooking robots are accelerating their integration into the catering industry, but there are still challenges on the road to popularization

Cooking robots are accelerating their integration into the catering industry, but "Qixian Xiaochu" is not the pioneer in this field. Before this, many catering brands such as Laoxiangji, Xiangcunji, Bawan, and Nonggengji had already started exploring the application of this technology.

The core driving force behind this wave comes from technological breakthroughs. A researcher from a securities firm told a reporter from Lanjing Technology: "The application of large - scale AI model technology has been proven to be the key to improving machine performance. In the cooking scenario, this technology enables robots to understand complex instructions and make precise and flexible responses."

It is these technological advancements, combined with the catering industry's demand for efficiency and standardization, that have jointly ignited the market vitality. According to QYR data, in the Chinese market, the online sales volume of household cooking robots in the first half of 2024 reached 130 million yuan, a year - on - year increase of 41.2%. The annual sales volume is expected to reach 290 million yuan, a year - on - year increase of 33.9%. The growth in the commercial field is even more rapid, especially in the group - meal market, with an annual growth rate of up to 120%. This has also attracted a large number of manufacturers such as Xianglu Robot, Zhuhai Youte, Buting Technology, Changshan Intelligence, and Tineco to flock in.

Despite the high market enthusiasm, cooking robots still have a long way to go before large - scale popularization.

Insufficient technological maturity is the primary obstacle. Li Sixin, a person in the robot industry, told a reporter from Lanjing Technology: "Currently, cooking robots still have room for improvement in terms of cooking effects, stability, and operational convenience. A prominent example is that robots still have difficulty perfectly simulating the chef's movements and strength in the 'wok - tossing' technique, which is crucial for the even heating of ingredients and creating the 'wok flavor'."

Cost is another key factor restricting popularization. It is understood that the unit price of current mainstream commercial cooking robots is mostly between 10,000 and 50,000 yuan, and high - end models even exceed 100,000 yuan, which poses a considerable pressure on small and medium - sized restaurants with limited financial strength.

The limitations of application scenarios are also quite obvious. Currently, cooking robots are mainly used in chain catering and group - meal fields to make basic dishes such as fast food and simple meals with a high degree of standardization. They still lack the ability to make high - end dishes and signature dishes that require complex cooking skills and personalized seasoning.

The owner of a Chinese cuisine chain brand in Shenzhen frankly told the reporter that his stores only use robots to make basic dishes such as fried rice and fried noodles, and signature dishes still need to be made manually by chefs because 'customers have high requirements for flavor, and there is still a gap in what robots can do'. In addition, in small restaurants with simple dishes, low labor costs, and limited kitchen space, cooking robots are not cost - effective and are relatively less used.

This article is from the WeChat public account "Lanjing Technology". Author: Zhai Zhichao of Lanjing Technology. Republished by 36Kr with authorization.