Dive Brief:
- White Castle and Automated Retail Technologies are working together to deploy the restaurant’s Crave & Go kiosks, which serve the burger brand’s sliders, across a wide range of markets, according to a Tuesday press release.
- The companies will deploy the hot-food kiosks in commercial and institutional environments “starting with 1,000 locations,” according to the press release. White Castle did not immediately respond to a request to clarify how many kiosks it currently operates, or how long it would take to hit 1,000 locations.
- The slider chain set up its first exclusively branded, hot-food kiosk in Boston Logan International Airport late last year.
Dive Insight:
White Castle said the partnership would help it meet consumers in areas beyond the reach of traditional restaurants.
“Automated retail allows us to meet consumers when cravings strike—on campuses, in hospitals and at workplaces — while delivering the hot and tasty quality, that has defined our brand for more than 100 years,” White Castle Chief Marketing Officer Jamie Richardson said in the press release.
The burger brand has been looking for new avenues of expansion recently, opening a prototype of a redesigned store format in Ohio last year that has a more modern interior experience and a double drive-thru with a Chick-fil-A style hospitality door. That store also featured new technologies, like Miso Robotics’ Flippy fry cook, drive-thru voice AI and self-ordering kiosks for on-premise orders.
The brand’s automation and tech-heavy expansion strategy could help it with throughput in its traditional units, while also opening up consumer touchpoints in areas that can’t sustain a full-sized restaurant.
Automated Retail Technologies kiosks are already deployed in a number of high-traffic areas, per the press release, which could speed up expansion. Per ART’s website, the tech company has deployed upwards of 850 units since 2022 and works with other brands like Wow Bao. It also partners with major foodservice contractors Aramark and Sodexo. The kiosk firm’s network includes locations in colleges, healthcare systems, corporate campuses and transportation hubs, per the press release.
While many brands have focused on high-traffic locations, like travel centers or airports, as expansion targets the last few years, few major QSRs have made such a significant commitment to using kiosks to saturate broader markets. Kiosks may save White Castle time in developing locations and prevent accruing labor costs, but they are unlikely to drive revenue on the same scale as traditional restaurants. Some kiosks may also be outside of White Castle’s direct control, if deployed in facilities where foodservice is exclusively provided by major contractors.
