International fast-food corporations are beginning to redesign their restaurants, accounting for the COVID-19 pandemic & future superbugs that are slated to arrive in two decades. The 1st corporation to announce its Post-COVID restaurant design is Burger King, showcasing several concepts that would benefit employed personnel & customers with social distancing. Burger King Ltd has named their concepts “The Restaurants of Tomorrow” and confirmed that RBI Design helmed this project.
Multiple factors were considered in the design of these several concepts. That included food innovation, future technologies, and global operations. Compared to traditional restaurant locations offered by Burger King, their updated design is 60% smaller. It’s because the idea of dining areas is being abandoned for additional delivery modes & methods for on-site ordering. Restaurant Brands International, the owners of Burger King, will implement similar designs with their other companies.
Inspired by Technology
Unique design attributes have been accounted for by Restaurant Brands International. Drive-Thrus & Ordering Windows will be located under solar-powered canopies. Food will be provided from a “Suspended Kitchen & Conveyor Belt System”, which will use robotic technologies to cook food for consumers. This will drastically reduce Burger King’s footprint in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and all other nations that BK is operational. Consumers will order direct through the Burger King Application & have their orders delivered via the conveyor belt system. It’s a unique concept but removes the presence of humans from BK restaurants.
How the robotic system will know which order is given to customers is through a dedicated Pick-Up Spot. Burger King is calling this Curbside Pick-Up, and consumers that select to use the Drive-Thru will have their order taken from an artificial intelligence system. It should be mentioned that “Restaurant Brands International” doesn’t plan to start building these fast-food powerhouses until 2023-25.
Burger King Ltd is focusing their designed on leveraged trends seen throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Leverages that most financial & business analysts anticipate won’t fallout after vaccines are internationally accepted. BK alone has experienced a 200% in online orders since March 2020 in the United States.