Kraft Heinz unveils new condiment dispensing machine

Yahoo Finance food reporter Brooke DiPalma discusses the Kraft Heinz Remix, a new custom condiment dispensing machine, and Wendy's testing an experimental robot system to deliver food to customer cars.

Video transcript

- All right, Kraft-Heinz is changing the way consumers can get their dipping sauce. It's calling the new sauce dispenser the Heinz Remix. Brooke DiPalma is here with the details all over that story. Brooke, what can we expect?

BROOKE DIPALMA: All over that story, certainly, and you're not alone. The hype around this seems to be pretty real as consumers just are going out and about more post-pandemic. And this tool ultimately took the team six months to. Build now, we got to see a rendering of it. It's about 2 and 1/2 feet wide, 2 and 1/2 feet deep, and features a large touch screen.

The first iteration that they're calling this, as you noted, the Heinz Remix. Customers can choose from four different bases, including Heinz Ketchup, Ranch, 57 Sauce, and Barbecue Sauce. It also includes what they're calling "enhancers." You can choose from low to high intensity of Jalapeno, Smoky Chipotle, Buffalo, and Mango, really getting at the personalization that customers are craving lately.

But when, exactly, we'll see it? Well, it might just be a while. They're set to debut next week at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, and then it'll debut in restaurants in late 2023 and early 2024. I asked Peter Hall, Kraft-Heinz executive, what, exactly, sort of restaurants will see that, and he said well, the options here are limitless. He said we can expect to see it at things like movie theaters, ballparks, football stadiums, schools, college campuses, theme parks, and [? he ?] even said Army bases.

Now, two goals here that Kraft-Heinz is looking to hit is increasing efficiency. From the moment that the customer chooses what they want it takes the machine about 8 to 10 seconds to, hopefully, fill up their cup and leave the machine, and also increase efficiency for those restaurant employees. They said that they only have to replace the bags once a day here. And in addition to that, this will also give Kraft-Heinz an option to get deeper consumer insights. There's over 200 combinations that customers can choose from here.

And so Kraft-Heinz eventually will take those combinations and potentially bring them to market. It'll also take those combinations and give them to the restaurant operator. And that's building that back end in a partnership with Microsoft. And this all part of Kraft-Heinz's larger plan to increase total sales in North America by $200 billion incrementally by 2027. So lots of hype here and lots of excitement, certainly.

- Smoky Chipotle and Mango, those are the two I want to try there.

BROOKE DIPALMA: [LAUGHS]

- Let's talk about another headline that we got today. Wendy's trying out underground deliveries through robots. What's that all about?

BROOKE DIPALMA: Well, Akiko, don't think that they're delivering it straight underground to your house. You have to be at the pilot location in order to get this here. But Wendy's, that's right, they're teaming up with a company called Pipe Dream. They're a hyperlogistics company.

Now, this autonomous robot system will ultimately go from the kitchen to a parking spot. They're calling those parking spots Carside Instant Pickup Portals, and they says that the food will be delivered within seconds. Now, this comes as Wendy's doubled down on that commitment to hot and fresh, particularly when it comes to delivery. You saw them introduce Hot and Fresh Fries and, in addition to that, digital sales.

They're trying to make a boost there. They made up about 11% of its sales mix in the US last quarter, but no word yet on where, exactly, we can expect this pilot to take place. But what we do know is that we could see it as soon as later on this year.

- Yeah, it's been interesting to see the increasing use of robots in the delivery space. Brooke DiPalma, as always, on the food beat for us. Thanks so much for that.