Panasonic teams up with Chinese hot pot chain Haidilao to open robot restaurants

In Haidilao International Holding Ltd.'s hot pot restaurants, robots are replacing chefs and waiters. Asia's biggest listed restaurant chain by market value is partnering with Panasonic Corp. to open what the two companies say is the world's first eatery with a fully automated kitchen on Oct. 28 in Beijing. At the new Haidilao restaurant, robots will take orders, prepare and deliver raw meat and fresh vegetables to customers to plop into soups prepared at their tables. The automation will lower labor costs and boost efficiency, underpinning Haidilao's plan to expand to as many as 5,000 restaurants worldwide, the companies said. "It could be difficult to expand to that size in terms of personnel, so Haidilao is shifting earlier to an operation that doesn't rely so much on manual labor," said Jun Yamashita, managing director of Ying Hai Holding Pte., the Singapore-based joint venture Haidilao and Panasonic have set up. "That's where Panasonic's technology comes in."