Shanghai has a vision for the future of dining, involving restaurants run by artificial intelligence (AI), with automated kitchens, robot servers, data-driven menus and intelligent supply chains. The spread of automation in the catering sector has become a hot-button issue in China over recent months, but Shanghai appears committed to charging ahead with a plan to transform local restaurants using smart technology. The city has set a target of becoming a “nationally leading, world-class” hub for smart restaurants by 2028 as part of a plan that could trigger a major shake-up in China’s vast food service sector: reshaping how meals are made and transforming the labor market.
The action plan by Shanghai’s Commerce Commission and four other municipal bureaus, aims to push catering businesses across the city to overhaul their operations using new technologies over the next three years. “Across group dining, fast-food and drink chains, over 70% of operations will incorporate smart technologies throughout their value chains, while the rate of intelligent application in key operations at full-service restaurants will exceed 50%,” the document stated. Shanghai would also create a number of smart central kitchens, set up three to five “AI + dining” pilot projects, and nurture several leading smart solution providers for the catering industry, it added. Local restaurants will be encouraged to expand into overseas markets, with the city supporting this effort by starting to build an intelligent supply chain system covering major target markets. The strategy could accelerate a reshuffling of the restaurant industry, squeezing small, family-run businesses out of the market, said Li Yingtao, Partner at the Shanghai-based consulting firm MCR. “Large, well-funded chains have the resources to invest in intelligent upgrades, allowing them to quickly gain cost advantages and expand their scale,” Li said. “But small, family-run eateries or single-owner restaurants that lack digital capabilities may struggle to survive.”
The shift could create new opportunities for solution providers offering to help small restaurants restructure their operations, he added. The strategy also has implications for the millions of workers employed in China’s catering sector, with Shanghai calling for businesses with standardized menus – such as fast-food and drink chains – to move towards “unstaffed and less-staffed operations”. Outlets should adopt smart drink dispensers, frying and rice-cooking robots, and burger assembly machines to boost efficiency, according to the plan. The authorities will also “support large restaurant chains and catering suppliers in building intelligent central kitchens that integrate automated washing, cooking and packaging systems”. The plan aims to preserve and innovate traditional culinary skills amid the automation drive, helping restaurants maintain consistent flavors, and improve efficiency, while also encouraging AI-powered menus and nutrition tools. Yet the push towards robot-driven catering could spark unease in a country where diners value the human touch as the soul of good cooking, and restaurants have faced criticism for serving pre-made dishes, the South China Morning Post reports.
