PASADENA, Calif., December 13, 2018 (Newswire.com) – Cali Group’s restaurant operating division Cali Group Restaurants Concepts Inc. announced expansion plans for the CaliBurger brand in different regions.
North America
In North America, CaliBurger will continue to grow steadily on the West Coast and East Coast. The new “CaliBurger Version 2.0” will feature kiosks with loyalty and payment programs based on Cali Group’s POPIQ facial recognition platform. Additionally, the new CaliBurger kitchens are designed for Flippy (by Miso Robotics) to cook burger patties on the grill and french fries in the fryers. A new CaliBurger restaurant will open at Westlake Village in downtown Seattle in late December and another unit will also open in early 2019 in Surrey, Canada. A second drive-through is under construction in Southern California.
Recently, CaliBurger signed an Area Development agreement to enter the Florida market in partnership with Jeff Burns and Tim Fredric, formerly a multi-unit McDonald’s operator. The first store in Florida will open in Fort Myers in Q3 2019. “We look forward to showcasing Cali Group’s technologies for interactive gaming, face-based ordering and an automated kitchen in Florida next year,” said Mr. Fredric.
Latin America
CaliBurger has three restaurants operating in Mexico and three new restaurants will open in December. Fourteen new CaliBurger restaurants are expected to open in Mexico in 2019. CaliBurger will launch Cali Group’s POPIQ platform in the Mexico market at the upcoming opening of its Monterrey store. “We will be the first business in Latin America to allow customers to pay using their faces instead of their credit cards,” said Juan Carlos Orea Sordo, manager of CaliBurger Mexico.
Asia
In Asia, CaliBurger will open its next restaurant in early 2019 on Hainan Island in Sanya, China. The 200-square-meter restaurant will be a premier offering in the front of Sanya Haitang Fantasy Town, a newly built amusement park.
Middle East
CaliBurger continues to operate restaurants throughout the Middle East. New stores will open in 2019 in Kuwait and other countries
https://tx0cb8.a2cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/favicon-1.jpg?time=1733281173247269caligrouphttps://tx0cb8.a2cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Option-2-Cali-Group-Logo-300x110.pngcaligroup2018-12-13 20:59:112018-12-17 21:02:00Cali Group Announces Expansion of CaliBurger Brand
Virtual Restaurant Concept Introducing Next Location in River North Neighborhood in November, Opening to Public in January
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Kitchen United, a Los Angeles-based virtual restaurant provider, today announced the opening of its next kitchen center at 825 N. Sedgwick St. in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. Coming on the heels of a $10M funding round led by GV, Kitchen United will work with restaurant partners to begin move-in in mid-December, and will start serving Chicago consumers in January.
With this launch, Kitchen United is offering national, regional and local restaurant chains a value-driven, low-risk opportunity to offload busy and disruptive off premise operations, or find entry into the Chicago market. Kitchen United already has commitments from several large restaurant chains who will be moving into the facility, and expects that this location will be fully subscribed by the time it starts serving consumers in early 2019.
Kitchen United’s “kitchen centers” are facilities that can house 10-20 restaurants with commercial kitchens optimized specifically for the catering, delivery and takeout marketplace. The company creates turnkey solutions for restaurants and positions its kitchen facilities in areas where demand is high and the local restaurant infrastructure is strained by the influx of non-traditional business. Chicago’s vibrant and fast growing River North ward is a perfect location and the company is excited to be opening its first location outside of California in such a busy environment.
“We select locations for our kitchen centers very carefully, and this space passed our site selection process with flying colors,” said Jim Collins, CEO of Kitchen United. “River North has an extremely high demand for food delivery, catering and pickup services. Restaurants in the area are stressed by the new business and the new facility will cater to both the in-place community, as well as bringing new dining options into the area to meet rising consumer demand.”
Kitchen United’s core business serves local, regional and national chains, but the company reserves space in each facility to enable restaurant and food service entrepreneurs an opportunity to start or expand their business and River North will provide space for this purpose as well.
“Changes in consumer preference are dramatically shaping the food landscape across the country,” said Chief Operating Officer of Kitchen United, Meredith Sandland. “Our facilities are designed to empower local and national restaurants to meet the demand for more off-premise dining options in their most relevant target markets. We’re thrilled to bring our next kitchen center to life in Chicago, and are hard at work to meet our expansion goals for the year ahead.”
Chicago is the second market for Kitchen United’s shared kitchen spaces and the company has aggressive growth plans for the year ahead. In 2019, the company is slated to open new facilities in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Columbus, Ohio, Phoenix, Seattle, Denver and New York City. As a data-driven organization, Kitchen United identifies the most promising locations for its kitchen centers by aggregating insights on demographics, income levels and cuisine-specific demand as well as drive time, traffic patterns and other data. The company also provides its restaurant partners opt-in consumer and operational data to tailor their businesses and menus to better meet local consumer demand and run more efficiently.
About Kitchen United
Kitchen United provides restaurant operators with a value-driven, low-risk way to easily expand into new markets, grow revenue through off-premise dining and expand existing delivery areas by removing common barriers, such as capital or technology expertise. For additional information, visit: http://www.kitchenunited.com.
https://tx0cb8.a2cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/favicon-1.jpg?time=1733281173247269caligrouphttps://tx0cb8.a2cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Option-2-Cali-Group-Logo-300x110.pngcaligroup2018-11-16 15:18:312018-11-27 15:21:05Kitchen United Opens Newest Kitchen Center in Chicago
Cali Group CEO to Discuss White Paper at the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Innovation Summit
October 30, 2018
LOS ANGELES, CA – Cali Group released today its vision for the future of the restaurant industry in a white paper entitled “Food Justice,” available for download at Food Justice. Authored by the partners of Cali Group, the paper first describes how the restaurant industry has historically been criticized for contributing to socioeconomic inequality by delivering poor nutrition to low income communities and serving as an employment trap for low income workers. They then propose that new technologies and business model paradigms will benefit low income communities by: (1) enabling delivery of higher quality food at lower prices direct to homes; and (2) providing higher income and more rewarding jobs without necessarily reducing the total number of jobs available.
On November 8 at the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Innovation Summit, Cali Group Chairman and CEO John Miller will discuss the white paper as he co-moderates a session on restaurant automation. During the session, Mr. Miller will engage in a dialogue with political scientist Darrell West about the impact of new technologies on the American workforce and society. Dr. West is the author of a new book titled The Future of Work: Robots, AI, and Automation.
ABOUT CALI GROUP
Cali Group is a holding company that comprises significant ownership positions in various technology companies developing software products to digitize and automate the brick and mortar world. Cali Group uses CaliBurger, a global restaurant chain that it operates as a subsidiary, to prove out the viability of new technologies for the restaurant and retail industries. For more information, visit www.thecaligroup.com.
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POP IQ Reduces Kiosk Transaction Time, Increases Loyalty Usage, and Is Preferred By Customers For Payment Processing.
LOS ANGELES, October 18, 2018 (Newswire.com) –Cali Group announced today that it’s majority-owned subsidiary, POP IQ, has completed a pilot program of its face-based authentication platform in CaliBurger’s restaurants in Los Angeles, Seattle, and Vancouver. POP IQ was installed on self-ordering kiosks in five CaliBurger restaurants so that registered POP IQ members could log in to their CaliBurger loyalty accounts by face authentication and also process credit card payments through face authentication (instead of credit card swipe). Cali Group previously reported that the POP IQ face matching system has an accuracy of over 99%. Key highlights of this multi-location trial include:
* Transaction time at a kiosk for a typical customer is approximately three minutes while transaction time at a kiosk for a customer that logs in using POP IQ is 1:44;
* 20% of customers ordering at the kiosks registered for POP IQ;
* 99% of returning customers that previously registered for POP IQ utilized POP IQ to log in to their loyalty accounts; and
* 69% of returning customers that previously registered for POP IQ utilized POP IQ to process payments instead of swiping credit cards.
“After nearly a year of testing POP IQ at CaliBurger, we have shown that POP IQ reduces kiosk transaction time, increases use of a merchant’s loyalty program, and becomes a preferred method for payment processing over credit card swipes,” said John Miller, Chairman and CEO of Cali Group. “Based on the success of the CaliBurger program, we will continue to deploy the POP IQ face network at other merchants in Los Angeles so that registered POP IQ members can authenticate themselves by touching the increasingly familiar POP IQ logo for a variety of different use cases ranging from building access to payment.”
ABOUT POP IQ
POP IQ is a universal gateway for face authentication. Learn more about the POP IQ vision at www.pop-iq.com.
ABOUT CALI GROUP
Cali Group is a holding company that comprises significant ownership positions in various technology companies developing software products to digitize and automate the brick and mortar world. Cali Group uses the brands in its restaurant operating division to prove out the viability of new technologies for the restaurant and retail industries. For more information, visit www.thecaligroup.com.
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Kitchen United Takes Data-Driven Approach to Help Restaurants Reach More Customers
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Kitchen United, a virtual restaurant concept, today announced the closing of a $10 million Series A funding round led by GV (formerly Google Ventures). Co-founders Harry Tsao and John Miller (Cali Group) also participated, along with several other investors. Launched in 2017, Kitchen United offers national, regional, and local restaurant chains a value-driven, low-risk opportunity to expand into new markets, grow revenue through off-premise dining, and expand their addressable delivery market. Kitchen United’s state-of-the-art commercial kitchens also provide food entrepreneurs the flexibility and business intelligence needed to enter this rapidly growing market.
Kitchen United will use the funding to power its national growth strategy – the company has plans to open new facilities in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Columbus, Phoenix, Seattle, Denver and New York City by the end of 2019. These funds will also build the company’s real estate, marketing, engineering and operations functions in connection with the existing leadership team, which hails from industry giants like Taco Bell, McDonald’s, SBE Entertainment, Wolfgang Puck and more. As part of the investment, GV General Partner Adam Ghobarah will be joining Kitchen United’s board of directors.
Kitchen United leverages aggregate data to identify the best locations for its “Kitchen Centers,” which are facilities that can house 10-20 restaurants in converted warehouses, as well as big box and light industrial locations. Data on local demographics are overlaid with cuisine-specific demand mapping to determine the best locations for these centers, as well as the best partner fit from its growing list of participating restaurants. Once in the facility, Kitchen United provides its restaurants access to opt-in consumer and operational data to tailor their businesses, meet consumer demand, and realize operational efficiency. Examples of these functions include flagging unpopular menu choices, allowing restaurants to reduce menu size, and tailoring labor size based on demand.
“Kitchen United’s data-driven approach to flexible kitchen spaces unlocks critical value for national, regional, and local restaurant chains looking to expand into new markets,” said Adam Ghobarah, general partner at GV. “The founding team’s experience in scaling – in addition to diverse exposure to national chains, regional brands, regional franchises, and small upstart eateries – puts Kitchen United in a strong position to accelerate food innovation. Delivery networks have created new possibilities for food entrepreneurs, and we see significant investment opportunities in this ecosystem.”
According to UBS, the food delivery market is expected to grow from $35 billion today to $365 billion worldwide by 2030, an annual average of more than 20 percent. Capitalizing on the rapidly changing restaurant landscape, Kitchen United’s Kitchen Centers create operational efficiencies and reduce delivery costs for restaurants while providing more food options and decreasing wait time for customers. Rather than the traditional approach of spending millions of dollars and taking months to establish new locations, restaurant partners utilizing Kitchen United spaces can enter new markets at a fraction of the cost and time, simply by staffing the kitchen and advertising the local address through the delivery services and their web channels.
“Consumers are demanding new dining choices at ever increasing levels,” said Jim Collins, CEO of Kitchen United. “Our Kitchen Centers are designed to bring production closer to homes and businesses across the country, empowering local and national businesses alike to reach new markets. We’re thrilled to work with GV as we bring many more of these kitchen spaces to life in the years ahead.”
About Kitchen United
Kitchen United offers food entrepreneurs the flexibility and business intelligence to take the next step in starting or growing their business — regardless of size or experience. Kitchen United provides restaurant operators with a value-driven, low-risk way to easily expand into new markets, grow revenue through off-premise dining and expand existing delivery areas by removing common barriers, such as capital or technology expertise. For additional information, visit: http://www.kitchenunited.com.
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NSF International issues full certification for kitchen assistant product line to prepare food in commercial kitchens
PASADENA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Miso Robotics, a leading robotics and artificial intelligence solutions company, today announced its cloud-connected Miso AI platform now enables the company’s autonomous robotic kitchen assistants to perform frying cooking tasks. In addition, Miso Robotics’ kitchen assistant product line has received full certification by NSF International for meeting sanitation standards for commercial kitchen equipment and secured an ETL Listed Mark by Intertek for meeting UL electrical safety standards.
The company has been piloting Flippy as a frying assistant since July 30 at the Chick ‘n Tots stand in Dodger Stadium, the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Flippy has helped stadium team members consistently cook and serve more than ten thousand pounds of fresh chicken tenders and crispy tater tots to Dodgers fans, producing up to eighty baskets of food per hour.
“The robotic kitchen assistant helps us more quickly and safely cook perfectly crispy chicken tenders and tater tots,” said Robin Rosenberg, Vice President and Chef de Cuisine for Levy. “It’s amazing to see the kitchen assistant and team members working together, and the consistency of product is incredible.”
Stationed in front of the fryer, Flippy assists with the frying process using three key Miso AI platform features: Miso See, Miso Serve and Miso Move. Miso See enables the six-axis industrial robotic arm to properly identify and locate food, cookware and cooking utensils, Miso Serve equips it to make optimal cooking decisions in real-time and Miso Move provides robotics control for safe and efficient grilling, frying and preparing food as assigned. Each allows Flippy to assist with picking up baskets and placing them in the fryer, gently shaking baskets in the oil and monitoring cooking time in addition to hanging baskets to drain excess oil, placing them at a designated station for temperature testing and skimming the fry oil. This permits team members to dedicate more time to food preparation and assembly as well as to improving the fan experience.
“New technologies at large scale venues and events like this need to add value for both guests and team members,” said Jaime Faulkner, CEO of E15. “Working with Miso, we were able to create a process that both delivers high quality food more quickly, and gives kitchen team members a chance to hone sought after skills working with robotics and automation.”
David Zito, cofounder and chief executive officer at Miso Robotics added, “Dodger Stadium is an ideal location to pilot our technology with a key demographic that expects the type of quality food and service we have developed Flippy to assist in fulfilling. Levy, E15 and the LA Dodgers have been incredible partners during this process; the tremendous insight we have gained during this pilot has enabled us to make improvements that ensure stadium employees benefit most from our collaborative solution.”
Flippy will continue frying at the Chick ‘n Tots stand at Dodger Stadium through the end of the 2018 LA Dodgers season. Miso Robotics, Levy and E15 will continue to plan additional opportunities during the offseason and Miso Robotics will further expand the capabilities of its autonomous robotic kitchen assistants, as well as applications for Miso AI.
Editors Notes: Miso Robotics Media Kit with video and images available here.
About Miso Robotics
Miso Robotics (misorobotics.com) is revolutionizing the restaurant and prepared food industries with innovative robotics and AI solutions. Miso was founded with a mission to leverage AI technology to help chefs cook food perfectly and consistently and enable restaurants to increase labor productivity, reduce costs and drive profitability while improving the overall dining experience. Miso employs a respected team of roboticists, engineers and industrial designers from Caltech, Cornell, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, UCLA, Olin, Harvey Mudd, Art Center, NASA, Tesla, and SpaceX.
About Levy
The disruptor in defining the premium sports and entertainment dining experience, Levy is recognized as one of the fastest growing and most critically acclaimed hospitality companies. Named one of the 10 most innovative companies in sports by Fast Company magazine, Levy’s diverse portfolio includes award-winning restaurants, iconic sports and entertainment venues, and convention centers as well as the Super Bowl, GRAMMY Awards, PGA Championship, US Open Tennis Tournament, Kentucky Derby, and NHL, MLB, NBA All-Star Games. For more, visit www.levyrestaurants.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
About E15 Group
E15 is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Levy, working with some of the most well-known organizations in sports and entertainment, and beyond. E15 brings together professionals from the fields of economics, mathematics, statistics, accounting and finance, psychology and behavioral science, and computer science and emerging technology, applying an analytical mindset to help partners enhance performance across all facets of operations.
https://tx0cb8.a2cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/favicon-1.jpg?time=1733281173247269caligrouphttps://tx0cb8.a2cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Option-2-Cali-Group-Logo-300x110.pngcaligroup2018-09-20 13:52:022018-09-24 13:59:38Miso Robotics Enhances Miso AI Platform to Include Frying Skills, Releases Pilot Program Results from Dodger Stadium
PASADENA, Calif., June 28, 2018 (Newswire.com)-Cali Group, a holding company with ownership stakes in a portfolio of synergistic food and food technology companies, announced today that its restaurant operating subsidiary, CaliBurger, will begin running “Flippy” at its Pasadena location for full day shifts. Flippy is the world’s first autonomous robotic kitchen assistant developed by Miso Robotics that works alongside kitchen staff to assist in consistently preparing freshly cooked burgers. Over the course of eight weeks, Flippy has been operating during lunch hours and will begin cooking from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily starting today.
“We have demonstrated that Flippy can work on our standard equipment and meet high volume demand with substantially greater cooking consistency than our kitchens that have not yet installed Flippy,” said Tony Lomelino, Chief Technology Officer of CaliBurger. “Additionally, we have developed a program to retrain our restaurant staff to serve as ‘Chef Techs’ that work alongside Flippy and monitor the related software and hardware systems. We expect these skills will be useful for employees across our chain to secure higher income jobs that require human / robotic interaction in the future restaurant industry and other industries.”
Since Flippy was first piloted in March, it has cooked thousands of burger patties cooked consistently for customers. Based on the success of this first commercial program, CaliBurger will begin deploying Flippy at additional CaliBurger locations later this year and plans to install Flippy in most of its domestic locations by the end of 2019.
“The collaboration between CaliBurger and Miso Robotics demonstrates how AI-driven robotics will improve food quality, decrease food production costs, and improve the lives of workers in the food industry,” said John Miller, CEO of Cali Group. “We will continue to invest in both companies, with the goal of developing other AI-driven robotic solutions to assist with other tasks at CaliBurger.”
ABOUT CALI GROUP
Cali Group is a holding company that comprises significant ownership positions in various technology companies developing software products to digitize and automate the brick and mortar world. Cali Group uses CaliBurger, a global restaurant chain that it operates as a subsidiary, to prove out the viability of new technologies for the restaurant and retail industries. For more information, visit www.thecaligroup.com.
ABOUT MISO ROBOTICS
Miso Robotics (www.misorobotics.com) is revolutionizing the restaurant and prepared food industries with innovative robotics and artificial intelligence solutions. Miso was founded with a mission to leverage AI technology to help chefs cook food perfectly and consistently and enable restaurants to increase labor productivity, reduce costs and drive profitability while improving the overall dining experience. Miso employs a respected team of roboticists, engineers and industrial designers from Caltech, Cornell, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Art Center and UNC Chapel Hill.
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Award-Winning Chefs and Iconic Restaurants, Including Canter’s Deli, Neal Fraser’s Fritzi Coop and Mama Musubi Among the First Concepts to Debut in Pasadena
PASADENA, Calif., May 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Culinary on-demand startup Kitchen United today announced the grand opening of its 12,000-square-foot local food hub in Pasadena, Calif. The facility helps food businesses expand their delivery, takeout and catering operations. At opening, the space will house 15 different concepts, specially optimized to take advantage of KU’s delivery-centric infrastructure. This facility is the first opened by the company and plans are in place to open nationwide in the coming year.
Kitchen United houses several larger regional and national brands, including concepts from Canter’s Deli, Neal Fraser’sFritzi Coop, Mama Musubi, Northern California better burger chain, Barney’s Gourmet Burgers and vegan startup The Pizza Plant. As the company expands across the country, locations are selected by converging demographic data with demand indicators such as delivery application usage and unmet demand indicators as well as feedback from national and regional restaurant chains targeting expansion through Kitchen United’s facilities.
“We quickly recognized that restaurants needed much more than access to a kitchen to make these specialized ‘outposts’ work,” said Jim Collins, CEO of Kitchen United. “So we have designed a unique solution, providing a combination of technology, equipment, marketing assistance and workflow solutions specifically optimized to ensure partner success. We’re thrilled to be working with a growing suite of impressive food innovators supplying not just the commercial kitchen space they need, but the resources and support to bring their vision to fruition.”
Kitchen United’s mission is to enable both established and new restaurant concepts to adapt to rapid changes in the restaurant industry driven by the explosive growth of consumer demand for delivery. Some restaurants have already seen the impact, with as much as 30% of order volume coming from outside of the dining room, and this trend is just beginning, with most industry analysts projecting multi-fold growth in the coming years.
“Kitchen United is transforming the food business and helping to build the future of restaurants,” said Carol Kwan, half of the brother-sister team behind Mama Musubi, a well-known Los Angeles based catering company specializing in Japanese cuisine. “Thus far, we’ve only had the capacity to be at farmers markets and popups. With Kitchen United, we’re able expand our reach through delivery while still focusing on what we love: serving our existing customer base and testing new ideas without having to worry about the operational nitty gritty that would be involved in opening our own space.”
Conceived and built by restaurant industry veterans from companies like Taco Bell, McDonalds and Wolfgang Puck, Kitchen United was designed with delivery in mind. Every process involved in the preparation, cooking, and delivery of food is optimized in the tech-enabled establishment through kitchen automation and ordering solutions seamlessly integrating most popular mobile and online delivery platforms. Restaurants save costs through shared back of house labor for non-core functions such as receiving and scullery, and facilities are designed with the new “diner” in mind, providing specified delivery driver parking as well as easy access consumer pickup. Moreover, Kitchen United has dedicated staff to work with restaurants to continuously improve the consumer experience and everything from food preparation to packaging is scrutinized in the process.
Kitchen United today also announced it has raised an undisclosed amount of Series A funding from Cali Group, Avista Investments and other private investors, which will be used to accelerate growth and fuel expansion in key markets in the U.S.
About Kitchen United Based in Pasadena, Calif., Kitchen United is on a mission to evolve the ecosystem for food enthusiasts and restaurant operators. Their back-of-house infrastructure empowers food businesses to innovate, dream, and grow. For more information visit www.kitchenunited.com.
Face Gateway Platform Can Be Used To Authenticate Identity For Building Entry, Loyalty Participation, And Payments
May 18, 2018 – Cali Group announced today that it will demonstrate it’s POP IQ platform at the NRA Show in Chicago on Monday, May 21. During a Super Session titled “The Future of Restaurants,” Cali Group CEO John Miller will describe how Cali Group is investing in new technologies such as social gaming, artificial intelligence, robotics, and internet of things. As part of the session, Mr. Miller will demonstrate Cali Group’s newest innovation, a universal gateway for face and hand gesture validation. With a restaurant ordering kiosk on stage, he will show how the POP IQ software can quickly enroll new customers in the gateway and be used by existing POP IQ members for loyalty activation and payment without any cards or devices.
The POP IQ platform is being commercialized as a universal authentication gateway for the “built world” by a majority owned subsidiary of Cali Group. The gateway is currently being used by merchants in the Los Angeles area. Once a consumer registers for POP IQ through a single channel powered by POP IQ, the consumer can use the system to authenticate himself or herself for any face-based application at any location that is powered by POP IQ. A video illustrating how the gateway works for various applications can be viewed at https://vimeo.com/270622870.
“Our vision of the future is that every day life will be dominated by use of face to authenticate identity,” said John Miller, CEO of Cali Group, the parent company of POP IQ. “Plastic credit cards, parking lot entry permits, gym membership bar code scanners, and concert tickets will disappear, and there will be a universal platform that consumers subscribe to and merchants utilize to authenticate identity.”
The POP IQ face gateway does not rely on images for identification; rather, it works by taking a digital fingerprint of a face and matching it against digital fingerprints of registered members. POP IQ does not keep or use images of its registered members. Use of facial recognition technology for payment processing is expected to reduce identity and financial theft, increase transaction processing speed, and increase convenience for consumers by eliminating the need for physical and mobile wallets.
ABOUT CALI GROUP
Cali Group is a holding company that comprises significant ownership positions in various technology companies developing software products to digitize and automate the brick and mortar world. Cali Group uses CaliBurger, a global restaurant chain that it operates as a subsidiary, to prove out the viability of new technologies for the restaurant and retail industries. For more information, visit www.thecaligroup.com.
ABOUT POP IQ
POP IQ is a universal gateway for face and hand gesture validation in the built world. For more information, visit http://pop-iq.com.
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PASADENA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Miso Robotics, the leading robotics and artificial intelligence solutions company for restaurants and food providers, today announced it has secured $10 million in Series B financing led by Acacia Research Corporation (NASDAQ: ACTG). Strategic investors participating in this funding round include Levy, the industry-leading sports and entertainment hospitality company, OpenTable’s chief technology officer Joseph Essas, and founding investor Cali Group, as well as six members of Cali Group’s management team and its subsidiary company, CaliBurger. Miso Robotics will use the new capital to expand its suite of collaborative, adaptable robotic kitchen assistants and to broaden applications for Miso AI, the company’s machine learning cloud platform.
We are thrilled by the growing confidence in Miso Robotics and remain committed to fulfilling our goal of modernizing the $3 trillion global prepared foods industry,” said David Zito, co-founder and CEO of Miso Robotics. “Acacia’s patent expertise and our strategic investors will be invaluable as we continue to commercialize our cutting edge technology.”
Miso Robotics’ suite of collaborative, adaptable robotic kitchen assistants and Miso AI platform are designed to boost productivity and improve food quality. This also enables restaurants and food providers to accommodate increasing customer expectations for fresher ingredients prepared quickly and consistently while keeping the cost of food down.
“The company’s unique position as a pioneer in autonomous solutions for the commercial kitchen will not only transform the modern restaurant but also will change the way we think about how food is produced and served,” said Rob Stewart, President of Acacia Research.
Miso Robotics has also appointed three members to its advisory board, including Joseph Essas, CTO of OpenTable, who will serve as a key restaurant technology advisor, Charless C. Fowlkes, associate professor of University of California at Irvine Department of Computer Science, and Dr. Aaron Ames, a world renowned roboticist and California Institute of Technology (Caltech) Bren Professor of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, who will both serve as machine learning and artificial intelligence advisors.
The company will soon debut “Flippy” at CaliBurger’s Pasadena location and will roll out the autonomous robotic kitchen assistant to more than 50 CaliBurger restaurants worldwide by the end of 2019.
Editors Notes: Miso Robotics Media Kit with video and images available here.
About Miso Robotics
Miso Robotics (www.misorobotics.com) is revolutionizing the restaurant and prepared food industries with innovative robotics and artificial intelligence solutions. Miso was founded with a mission to leverage AI technology to help chefs cook food perfectly and consistently and enable restaurants to increase labor productivity, reduce costs and drive profitability while improving the overall dining experience. Miso employs a respected team of roboticists, engineers and industrial designers from Caltech, Cornell, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Art Center and UNC Chapel Hill.
About Acacia Research Corporation
Founded in 1993, Acacia Research Corporation (NASDAQ: ACTG) is an industry leader in patent licensing and partners with inventors and patent owners to unlock the financial value in their patented inventions. Acacia bridges the gap between invention and application, facilitating efficiency and delivering monetary rewards to the patent owner. Acacia also leverages its patent expertise and background to invest and partner in emerging disruptive technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. For more information, visit: www.acaciaresearch.com.
About Cali Group
Cali Group is a holding company that comprises CaliBurger, a global restaurant chain, and its affiliated technology companies. Cali Group’s C-Vision platform ties together the various software products developed by its affiliated companies to enable the entire restaurant to be controlled from one operating system run on a tablet. Cali Group uses its CaliBurger restaurant chain to demonstrate proof of concept and lead the commercial adoption of the C-Vision platform.
About Levy
A disrupter in the premium sports and entertainment dining experience, Levy is recognized as one of the fastest growing and most critically acclaimed hospitality companies. Named one of the 10 most innovative companies in sports by Fast Company magazine,Levy’s diverse portfolio includes award-winning restaurants, iconic sports and entertainment venues, and convention centers, as well as the Super Bowl, Grammy Awards, PGA Championship, US Open Tennis Tournament, Kentucky Derby, and NHL, MLB, NBA All-Star Games. Levy subsidiary companies include E15 Group (technology and analytics), Curiology (experience design and innovation) and Rank + Rally (retail). For more, visit www.levyrestaurants.com.
https://tx0cb8.a2cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/favicon-1.jpg?time=1733281173247269caligrouphttps://tx0cb8.a2cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Option-2-Cali-Group-Logo-300x110.pngcaligroup2018-04-23 01:42:562018-06-17 00:32:12Miso Robotics Secures $10 Million in Series B Funding Led by Acacia Research
Cali Group Announces Expansion of CaliBurger Brand
PASADENA, Calif., December 13, 2018 (Newswire.com) – Cali Group’s restaurant operating division Cali Group Restaurants Concepts Inc. announced expansion plans for the CaliBurger brand in different regions.
North America
In North America, CaliBurger will continue to grow steadily on the West Coast and East Coast. The new “CaliBurger Version 2.0” will feature kiosks with loyalty and payment programs based on Cali Group’s POPIQ facial recognition platform. Additionally, the new CaliBurger kitchens are designed for Flippy (by Miso Robotics) to cook burger patties on the grill and french fries in the fryers. A new CaliBurger restaurant will open at Westlake Village in downtown Seattle in late December and another unit will also open in early 2019 in Surrey, Canada. A second drive-through is under construction in Southern California.
Recently, CaliBurger signed an Area Development agreement to enter the Florida market in partnership with Jeff Burns and Tim Fredric, formerly a multi-unit McDonald’s operator. The first store in Florida will open in Fort Myers in Q3 2019. “We look forward to showcasing Cali Group’s technologies for interactive gaming, face-based ordering and an automated kitchen in Florida next year,” said Mr. Fredric.
Latin America
CaliBurger has three restaurants operating in Mexico and three new restaurants will open in December. Fourteen new CaliBurger restaurants are expected to open in Mexico in 2019. CaliBurger will launch Cali Group’s POPIQ platform in the Mexico market at the upcoming opening of its Monterrey store. “We will be the first business in Latin America to allow customers to pay using their faces instead of their credit cards,” said Juan Carlos Orea Sordo, manager of CaliBurger Mexico.
Asia
In Asia, CaliBurger will open its next restaurant in early 2019 on Hainan Island in Sanya, China. The 200-square-meter restaurant will be a premier offering in the front of Sanya Haitang Fantasy Town, a newly built amusement park.
Middle East
CaliBurger continues to operate restaurants throughout the Middle East. New stores will open in 2019 in Kuwait and other countries
Source: Cali Group
Kitchen United Opens Newest Kitchen Center in Chicago
Virtual Restaurant Concept Introducing Next Location in River North Neighborhood in November, Opening to Public in January
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Kitchen United, a Los Angeles-based virtual restaurant provider, today announced the opening of its next kitchen center at 825 N. Sedgwick St. in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. Coming on the heels of a $10M funding round led by GV, Kitchen United will work with restaurant partners to begin move-in in mid-December, and will start serving Chicago consumers in January.
With this launch, Kitchen United is offering national, regional and local restaurant chains a value-driven, low-risk opportunity to offload busy and disruptive off premise operations, or find entry into the Chicago market. Kitchen United already has commitments from several large restaurant chains who will be moving into the facility, and expects that this location will be fully subscribed by the time it starts serving consumers in early 2019.
Kitchen United’s “kitchen centers” are facilities that can house 10-20 restaurants with commercial kitchens optimized specifically for the catering, delivery and takeout marketplace. The company creates turnkey solutions for restaurants and positions its kitchen facilities in areas where demand is high and the local restaurant infrastructure is strained by the influx of non-traditional business. Chicago’s vibrant and fast growing River North ward is a perfect location and the company is excited to be opening its first location outside of California in such a busy environment.
“We select locations for our kitchen centers very carefully, and this space passed our site selection process with flying colors,” said Jim Collins, CEO of Kitchen United. “River North has an extremely high demand for food delivery, catering and pickup services. Restaurants in the area are stressed by the new business and the new facility will cater to both the in-place community, as well as bringing new dining options into the area to meet rising consumer demand.”
Kitchen United’s core business serves local, regional and national chains, but the company reserves space in each facility to enable restaurant and food service entrepreneurs an opportunity to start or expand their business and River North will provide space for this purpose as well.
“Changes in consumer preference are dramatically shaping the food landscape across the country,” said Chief Operating Officer of Kitchen United, Meredith Sandland. “Our facilities are designed to empower local and national restaurants to meet the demand for more off-premise dining options in their most relevant target markets. We’re thrilled to bring our next kitchen center to life in Chicago, and are hard at work to meet our expansion goals for the year ahead.”
Chicago is the second market for Kitchen United’s shared kitchen spaces and the company has aggressive growth plans for the year ahead. In 2019, the company is slated to open new facilities in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Columbus, Ohio, Phoenix, Seattle, Denver and New York City. As a data-driven organization, Kitchen United identifies the most promising locations for its kitchen centers by aggregating insights on demographics, income levels and cuisine-specific demand as well as drive time, traffic patterns and other data. The company also provides its restaurant partners opt-in consumer and operational data to tailor their businesses and menus to better meet local consumer demand and run more efficiently.
About Kitchen United
Kitchen United provides restaurant operators with a value-driven, low-risk way to easily expand into new markets, grow revenue through off-premise dining and expand existing delivery areas by removing common barriers, such as capital or technology expertise. For additional information, visit: http://www.kitchenunited.com.
CALI GROUP PRESENTS VISION FOR FOOD JUSTICE
Cali Group CEO to Discuss White Paper at the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Innovation Summit
October 30, 2018
LOS ANGELES, CA – Cali Group released today its vision for the future of the restaurant industry in a white paper entitled “Food Justice,” available for download at Food Justice. Authored by the partners of Cali Group, the paper first describes how the restaurant industry has historically been criticized for contributing to socioeconomic inequality by delivering poor nutrition to low income communities and serving as an employment trap for low income workers. They then propose that new technologies and business model paradigms will benefit low income communities by: (1) enabling delivery of higher quality food at lower prices direct to homes; and (2) providing higher income and more rewarding jobs without necessarily reducing the total number of jobs available.
On November 8 at the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Innovation Summit, Cali Group Chairman and CEO John Miller will discuss the white paper as he co-moderates a session on restaurant automation. During the session, Mr. Miller will engage in a dialogue with political scientist Darrell West about the impact of new technologies on the American workforce and society. Dr. West is the author of a new book titled The Future of Work: Robots, AI, and Automation.
ABOUT CALI GROUP
Cali Group is a holding company that comprises significant ownership positions in various technology companies developing software products to digitize and automate the brick and mortar world. Cali Group uses CaliBurger, a global restaurant chain that it operates as a subsidiary, to prove out the viability of new technologies for the restaurant and retail industries. For more information, visit www.thecaligroup.com.
Cali Group Reports Results From Pop Iq Pilot Program Across Caliburger’s West Coast Restaurants
POP IQ Reduces Kiosk Transaction Time, Increases Loyalty Usage, and Is Preferred By Customers For Payment Processing.
LOS ANGELES, October 18, 2018 (Newswire.com) –Cali Group announced today that it’s majority-owned subsidiary, POP IQ, has completed a pilot program of its face-based authentication platform in CaliBurger’s restaurants in Los Angeles, Seattle, and Vancouver. POP IQ was installed on self-ordering kiosks in five CaliBurger restaurants so that registered POP IQ members could log in to their CaliBurger loyalty accounts by face authentication and also process credit card payments through face authentication (instead of credit card swipe). Cali Group previously reported that the POP IQ face matching system has an accuracy of over 99%. Key highlights of this multi-location trial include:
* Transaction time at a kiosk for a typical customer is approximately three minutes while transaction time at a kiosk for a customer that logs in using POP IQ is 1:44;
* 20% of customers ordering at the kiosks registered for POP IQ;
* 99% of returning customers that previously registered for POP IQ utilized POP IQ to log in to their loyalty accounts; and
* 69% of returning customers that previously registered for POP IQ utilized POP IQ to process payments instead of swiping credit cards.
“After nearly a year of testing POP IQ at CaliBurger, we have shown that POP IQ reduces kiosk transaction time, increases use of a merchant’s loyalty program, and becomes a preferred method for payment processing over credit card swipes,” said John Miller, Chairman and CEO of Cali Group. “Based on the success of the CaliBurger program, we will continue to deploy the POP IQ face network at other merchants in Los Angeles so that registered POP IQ members can authenticate themselves by touching the increasingly familiar POP IQ logo for a variety of different use cases ranging from building access to payment.”
ABOUT POP IQ
POP IQ is a universal gateway for face authentication. Learn more about the POP IQ vision at www.pop-iq.com.
ABOUT CALI GROUP
Cali Group is a holding company that comprises significant ownership positions in various technology companies developing software products to digitize and automate the brick and mortar world. Cali Group uses the brands in its restaurant operating division to prove out the viability of new technologies for the restaurant and retail industries. For more information, visit www.thecaligroup.com.
Source: Cali Group
GV Leads $10M Investment in Kitchen United to Bring Flexible Kitchen Spaces to New Markets
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Kitchen United, a virtual restaurant concept, today announced the closing of a $10 million Series A funding round led by GV (formerly Google Ventures). Co-founders Harry Tsao and John Miller (Cali Group) also participated, along with several other investors. Launched in 2017, Kitchen United offers national, regional, and local restaurant chains a value-driven, low-risk opportunity to expand into new markets, grow revenue through off-premise dining, and expand their addressable delivery market. Kitchen United’s state-of-the-art commercial kitchens also provide food entrepreneurs the flexibility and business intelligence needed to enter this rapidly growing market.
Kitchen United will use the funding to power its national growth strategy – the company has plans to open new facilities in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Columbus, Phoenix, Seattle, Denver and New York City by the end of 2019. These funds will also build the company’s real estate, marketing, engineering and operations functions in connection with the existing leadership team, which hails from industry giants like Taco Bell, McDonald’s, SBE Entertainment, Wolfgang Puck and more. As part of the investment, GV General Partner Adam Ghobarah will be joining Kitchen United’s board of directors.
Kitchen United leverages aggregate data to identify the best locations for its “Kitchen Centers,” which are facilities that can house 10-20 restaurants in converted warehouses, as well as big box and light industrial locations. Data on local demographics are overlaid with cuisine-specific demand mapping to determine the best locations for these centers, as well as the best partner fit from its growing list of participating restaurants. Once in the facility, Kitchen United provides its restaurants access to opt-in consumer and operational data to tailor their businesses, meet consumer demand, and realize operational efficiency. Examples of these functions include flagging unpopular menu choices, allowing restaurants to reduce menu size, and tailoring labor size based on demand.
“Kitchen United’s data-driven approach to flexible kitchen spaces unlocks critical value for national, regional, and local restaurant chains looking to expand into new markets,” said Adam Ghobarah, general partner at GV. “The founding team’s experience in scaling – in addition to diverse exposure to national chains, regional brands, regional franchises, and small upstart eateries – puts Kitchen United in a strong position to accelerate food innovation. Delivery networks have created new possibilities for food entrepreneurs, and we see significant investment opportunities in this ecosystem.”
According to UBS, the food delivery market is expected to grow from $35 billion today to $365 billion worldwide by 2030, an annual average of more than 20 percent. Capitalizing on the rapidly changing restaurant landscape, Kitchen United’s Kitchen Centers create operational efficiencies and reduce delivery costs for restaurants while providing more food options and decreasing wait time for customers. Rather than the traditional approach of spending millions of dollars and taking months to establish new locations, restaurant partners utilizing Kitchen United spaces can enter new markets at a fraction of the cost and time, simply by staffing the kitchen and advertising the local address through the delivery services and their web channels.
“Consumers are demanding new dining choices at ever increasing levels,” said Jim Collins, CEO of Kitchen United. “Our Kitchen Centers are designed to bring production closer to homes and businesses across the country, empowering local and national businesses alike to reach new markets. We’re thrilled to work with GV as we bring many more of these kitchen spaces to life in the years ahead.”
About Kitchen United
Kitchen United offers food entrepreneurs the flexibility and business intelligence to take the next step in starting or growing their business — regardless of size or experience. Kitchen United provides restaurant operators with a value-driven, low-risk way to easily expand into new markets, grow revenue through off-premise dining and expand existing delivery areas by removing common barriers, such as capital or technology expertise. For additional information, visit: http://www.kitchenunited.com.
Miso Robotics Enhances Miso AI Platform to Include Frying Skills, Releases Pilot Program Results from Dodger Stadium
NSF International issues full certification for kitchen assistant product line to prepare food in commercial kitchens
PASADENA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Miso Robotics, a leading robotics and artificial intelligence solutions company, today announced its cloud-connected Miso AI platform now enables the company’s autonomous robotic kitchen assistants to perform frying cooking tasks. In addition, Miso Robotics’ kitchen assistant product line has received full certification by NSF International for meeting sanitation standards for commercial kitchen equipment and secured an ETL Listed Mark by Intertek for meeting UL electrical safety standards.
The company has been piloting Flippy as a frying assistant since July 30 at the Chick ‘n Tots stand in Dodger Stadium, the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Flippy has helped stadium team members consistently cook and serve more than ten thousand pounds of fresh chicken tenders and crispy tater tots to Dodgers fans, producing up to eighty baskets of food per hour.
“The robotic kitchen assistant helps us more quickly and safely cook perfectly crispy chicken tenders and tater tots,” said Robin Rosenberg, Vice President and Chef de Cuisine for Levy. “It’s amazing to see the kitchen assistant and team members working together, and the consistency of product is incredible.”
Stationed in front of the fryer, Flippy assists with the frying process using three key Miso AI platform features: Miso See, Miso Serve and Miso Move. Miso See enables the six-axis industrial robotic arm to properly identify and locate food, cookware and cooking utensils, Miso Serve equips it to make optimal cooking decisions in real-time and Miso Move provides robotics control for safe and efficient grilling, frying and preparing food as assigned. Each allows Flippy to assist with picking up baskets and placing them in the fryer, gently shaking baskets in the oil and monitoring cooking time in addition to hanging baskets to drain excess oil, placing them at a designated station for temperature testing and skimming the fry oil. This permits team members to dedicate more time to food preparation and assembly as well as to improving the fan experience.
“New technologies at large scale venues and events like this need to add value for both guests and team members,” said Jaime Faulkner, CEO of E15. “Working with Miso, we were able to create a process that both delivers high quality food more quickly, and gives kitchen team members a chance to hone sought after skills working with robotics and automation.”
David Zito, cofounder and chief executive officer at Miso Robotics added, “Dodger Stadium is an ideal location to pilot our technology with a key demographic that expects the type of quality food and service we have developed Flippy to assist in fulfilling. Levy, E15 and the LA Dodgers have been incredible partners during this process; the tremendous insight we have gained during this pilot has enabled us to make improvements that ensure stadium employees benefit most from our collaborative solution.”
Flippy will continue frying at the Chick ‘n Tots stand at Dodger Stadium through the end of the 2018 LA Dodgers season. Miso Robotics, Levy and E15 will continue to plan additional opportunities during the offseason and Miso Robotics will further expand the capabilities of its autonomous robotic kitchen assistants, as well as applications for Miso AI.
Editors Notes: Miso Robotics Media Kit with video and images available here.
About Miso Robotics
Miso Robotics (misorobotics.com) is revolutionizing the restaurant and prepared food industries with innovative robotics and AI solutions. Miso was founded with a mission to leverage AI technology to help chefs cook food perfectly and consistently and enable restaurants to increase labor productivity, reduce costs and drive profitability while improving the overall dining experience. Miso employs a respected team of roboticists, engineers and industrial designers from Caltech, Cornell, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, UCLA, Olin, Harvey Mudd, Art Center, NASA, Tesla, and SpaceX.
About Levy
The disruptor in defining the premium sports and entertainment dining experience, Levy is recognized as one of the fastest growing and most critically acclaimed hospitality companies. Named one of the 10 most innovative companies in sports by Fast Company magazine, Levy’s diverse portfolio includes award-winning restaurants, iconic sports and entertainment venues, and convention centers as well as the Super Bowl, GRAMMY Awards, PGA Championship, US Open Tennis Tournament, Kentucky Derby, and NHL, MLB, NBA All-Star Games. For more, visit www.levyrestaurants.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
About E15 Group
E15 is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Levy, working with some of the most well-known organizations in sports and entertainment, and beyond. E15 brings together professionals from the fields of economics, mathematics, statistics, accounting and finance, psychology and behavioral science, and computer science and emerging technology, applying an analytical mindset to help partners enhance performance across all facets of operations.
Flippy To Begin Working Full Day Shifts At CaliBurger
PASADENA, Calif., June 28, 2018 (Newswire.com)-Cali Group, a holding company with ownership stakes in a portfolio of synergistic food and food technology companies, announced today that its restaurant operating subsidiary, CaliBurger, will begin running “Flippy” at its Pasadena location for full day shifts. Flippy is the world’s first autonomous robotic kitchen assistant developed by Miso Robotics that works alongside kitchen staff to assist in consistently preparing freshly cooked burgers. Over the course of eight weeks, Flippy has been operating during lunch hours and will begin cooking from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily starting today.
“We have demonstrated that Flippy can work on our standard equipment and meet high volume demand with substantially greater cooking consistency than our kitchens that have not yet installed Flippy,” said Tony Lomelino, Chief Technology Officer of CaliBurger. “Additionally, we have developed a program to retrain our restaurant staff to serve as ‘Chef Techs’ that work alongside Flippy and monitor the related software and hardware systems. We expect these skills will be useful for employees across our chain to secure higher income jobs that require human / robotic interaction in the future restaurant industry and other industries.”
Since Flippy was first piloted in March, it has cooked thousands of burger patties cooked consistently for customers. Based on the success of this first commercial program, CaliBurger will begin deploying Flippy at additional CaliBurger locations later this year and plans to install Flippy in most of its domestic locations by the end of 2019.
“The collaboration between CaliBurger and Miso Robotics demonstrates how AI-driven robotics will improve food quality, decrease food production costs, and improve the lives of workers in the food industry,” said John Miller, CEO of Cali Group. “We will continue to invest in both companies, with the goal of developing other AI-driven robotic solutions to assist with other tasks at CaliBurger.”
ABOUT CALI GROUP
Cali Group is a holding company that comprises significant ownership positions in various technology companies developing software products to digitize and automate the brick and mortar world. Cali Group uses CaliBurger, a global restaurant chain that it operates as a subsidiary, to prove out the viability of new technologies for the restaurant and retail industries. For more information, visit www.thecaligroup.com.
ABOUT MISO ROBOTICS
Miso Robotics (www.misorobotics.com) is revolutionizing the restaurant and prepared food industries with innovative robotics and artificial intelligence solutions. Miso was founded with a mission to leverage AI technology to help chefs cook food perfectly and consistently and enable restaurants to increase labor productivity, reduce costs and drive profitability while improving the overall dining experience. Miso employs a respected team of roboticists, engineers and industrial designers from Caltech, Cornell, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Art Center and UNC Chapel Hill.
Source: Cali Group
Kitchen United Announces Pasadena Location Opening, Unveils Restaurant Partners
Award-Winning Chefs and Iconic Restaurants, Including Canter’s Deli, Neal Fraser’s Fritzi Coop and Mama Musubi Among the First Concepts to Debut in Pasadena
PASADENA, Calif., May 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Culinary on-demand startup Kitchen United today announced the grand opening of its 12,000-square-foot local food hub in Pasadena, Calif. The facility helps food businesses expand their delivery, takeout and catering operations. At opening, the space will house 15 different concepts, specially optimized to take advantage of KU’s delivery-centric infrastructure. This facility is the first opened by the company and plans are in place to open nationwide in the coming year.
Kitchen United houses several larger regional and national brands, including concepts from Canter’s Deli, Neal Fraser’sFritzi Coop, Mama Musubi, Northern California better burger chain, Barney’s Gourmet Burgers and vegan startup The Pizza Plant. As the company expands across the country, locations are selected by converging demographic data with demand indicators such as delivery application usage and unmet demand indicators as well as feedback from national and regional restaurant chains targeting expansion through Kitchen United’s facilities.
“We quickly recognized that restaurants needed much more than access to a kitchen to make these specialized ‘outposts’ work,” said Jim Collins, CEO of Kitchen United. “So we have designed a unique solution, providing a combination of technology, equipment, marketing assistance and workflow solutions specifically optimized to ensure partner success. We’re thrilled to be working with a growing suite of impressive food innovators supplying not just the commercial kitchen space they need, but the resources and support to bring their vision to fruition.”
Kitchen United’s mission is to enable both established and new restaurant concepts to adapt to rapid changes in the restaurant industry driven by the explosive growth of consumer demand for delivery. Some restaurants have already seen the impact, with as much as 30% of order volume coming from outside of the dining room, and this trend is just beginning, with most industry analysts projecting multi-fold growth in the coming years.
“Kitchen United is transforming the food business and helping to build the future of restaurants,” said Carol Kwan, half of the brother-sister team behind Mama Musubi, a well-known Los Angeles based catering company specializing in Japanese cuisine. “Thus far, we’ve only had the capacity to be at farmers markets and popups. With Kitchen United, we’re able expand our reach through delivery while still focusing on what we love: serving our existing customer base and testing new ideas without having to worry about the operational nitty gritty that would be involved in opening our own space.”
Conceived and built by restaurant industry veterans from companies like Taco Bell, McDonalds and Wolfgang Puck, Kitchen United was designed with delivery in mind. Every process involved in the preparation, cooking, and delivery of food is optimized in the tech-enabled establishment through kitchen automation and ordering solutions seamlessly integrating most popular mobile and online delivery platforms. Restaurants save costs through shared back of house labor for non-core functions such as receiving and scullery, and facilities are designed with the new “diner” in mind, providing specified delivery driver parking as well as easy access consumer pickup. Moreover, Kitchen United has dedicated staff to work with restaurants to continuously improve the consumer experience and everything from food preparation to packaging is scrutinized in the process.
Kitchen United today also announced it has raised an undisclosed amount of Series A funding from Cali Group, Avista Investments and other private investors, which will be used to accelerate growth and fuel expansion in key markets in the U.S.
About Kitchen United
Based in Pasadena, Calif., Kitchen United is on a mission to evolve the ecosystem for food enthusiasts and restaurant operators. Their back-of-house infrastructure empowers food businesses to innovate, dream, and grow. For more information visit www.kitchenunited.com.
Cali Group To Present POP IQ Face Gateway On Stage At NRA Show
Face Gateway Platform Can Be Used To Authenticate Identity For Building Entry, Loyalty Participation, And Payments
May 18, 2018 – Cali Group announced today that it will demonstrate it’s POP IQ platform at the NRA Show in Chicago on Monday, May 21. During a Super Session titled “The Future of Restaurants,” Cali Group CEO John Miller will describe how Cali Group is investing in new technologies such as social gaming, artificial intelligence, robotics, and internet of things. As part of the session, Mr. Miller will demonstrate Cali Group’s newest innovation, a universal gateway for face and hand gesture validation. With a restaurant ordering kiosk on stage, he will show how the POP IQ software can quickly enroll new customers in the gateway and be used by existing POP IQ members for loyalty activation and payment without any cards or devices.
The POP IQ platform is being commercialized as a universal authentication gateway for the “built world” by a majority owned subsidiary of Cali Group. The gateway is currently being used by merchants in the Los Angeles area. Once a consumer registers for POP IQ through a single channel powered by POP IQ, the consumer can use the system to authenticate himself or herself for any face-based application at any location that is powered by POP IQ. A video illustrating how the gateway works for various applications can be viewed at https://vimeo.com/270622870.
“Our vision of the future is that every day life will be dominated by use of face to authenticate identity,” said John Miller, CEO of Cali Group, the parent company of POP IQ. “Plastic credit cards, parking lot entry permits, gym membership bar code scanners, and concert tickets will disappear, and there will be a universal platform that consumers subscribe to and merchants utilize to authenticate identity.”
The POP IQ face gateway does not rely on images for identification; rather, it works by taking a digital fingerprint of a face and matching it against digital fingerprints of registered members. POP IQ does not keep or use images of its registered members. Use of facial recognition technology for payment processing is expected to reduce identity and financial theft, increase transaction processing speed, and increase convenience for consumers by eliminating the need for physical and mobile wallets.
ABOUT CALI GROUP
Cali Group is a holding company that comprises significant ownership positions in various technology companies developing software products to digitize and automate the brick and mortar world. Cali Group uses CaliBurger, a global restaurant chain that it operates as a subsidiary, to prove out the viability of new technologies for the restaurant and retail industries. For more information, visit www.thecaligroup.com.
ABOUT POP IQ
POP IQ is a universal gateway for face and hand gesture validation in the built world. For more information, visit http://pop-iq.com.
Miso Robotics Secures $10 Million in Series B Funding Led by Acacia Research
We are thrilled by the growing confidence in Miso Robotics and remain committed to fulfilling our goal of modernizing the $3 trillion global prepared foods industry,” said David Zito, co-founder and CEO of Miso Robotics. “Acacia’s patent expertise and our strategic investors will be invaluable as we continue to commercialize our cutting edge technology.”
Miso Robotics’ suite of collaborative, adaptable robotic kitchen assistants and Miso AI platform are designed to boost productivity and improve food quality. This also enables restaurants and food providers to accommodate increasing customer expectations for fresher ingredients prepared quickly and consistently while keeping the cost of food down.
“The company’s unique position as a pioneer in autonomous solutions for the commercial kitchen will not only transform the modern restaurant but also will change the way we think about how food is produced and served,” said Rob Stewart, President of Acacia Research.
Miso Robotics has also appointed three members to its advisory board, including Joseph Essas, CTO of OpenTable, who will serve as a key restaurant technology advisor, Charless C. Fowlkes, associate professor of University of California at Irvine Department of Computer Science, and Dr. Aaron Ames, a world renowned roboticist and California Institute of Technology (Caltech) Bren Professor of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, who will both serve as machine learning and artificial intelligence advisors.
The company will soon debut “Flippy” at CaliBurger’s Pasadena location and will roll out the autonomous robotic kitchen assistant to more than 50 CaliBurger restaurants worldwide by the end of 2019.
Editors Notes: Miso Robotics Media Kit with video and images available here.
About Miso Robotics
Miso Robotics (www.misorobotics.com) is revolutionizing the restaurant and prepared food industries with innovative robotics and artificial intelligence solutions. Miso was founded with a mission to leverage AI technology to help chefs cook food perfectly and consistently and enable restaurants to increase labor productivity, reduce costs and drive profitability while improving the overall dining experience. Miso employs a respected team of roboticists, engineers and industrial designers from Caltech, Cornell, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Art Center and UNC Chapel Hill.
About Acacia Research Corporation
Founded in 1993, Acacia Research Corporation (NASDAQ: ACTG) is an industry leader in patent licensing and partners with inventors and patent owners to unlock the financial value in their patented inventions. Acacia bridges the gap between invention and application, facilitating efficiency and delivering monetary rewards to the patent owner. Acacia also leverages its patent expertise and background to invest and partner in emerging disruptive technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. For more information, visit: www.acaciaresearch.com.
About Cali Group
Cali Group is a holding company that comprises CaliBurger, a global restaurant chain, and its affiliated technology companies. Cali Group’s C-Vision platform ties together the various software products developed by its affiliated companies to enable the entire restaurant to be controlled from one operating system run on a tablet. Cali Group uses its CaliBurger restaurant chain to demonstrate proof of concept and lead the commercial adoption of the C-Vision platform.
About Levy
A disrupter in the premium sports and entertainment dining experience, Levy is recognized as one of the fastest growing and most critically acclaimed hospitality companies. Named one of the 10 most innovative companies in sports by Fast Company magazine, Levy’s diverse portfolio includes award-winning restaurants, iconic sports and entertainment venues, and convention centers, as well as the Super Bowl, Grammy Awards, PGA Championship, US Open Tennis Tournament, Kentucky Derby, and NHL, MLB, NBA All-Star Games. Levy subsidiary companies include E15 Group (technology and analytics), Curiology (experience design and innovation) and Rank + Rally (retail). For more, visit www.levyrestaurants.com.