Bristol chippy launches robot deliveries

A Bristol fish and chip shop has embraced the latest technology to complete its first delivery by robot.

Jolly Fryer carried out its first robot delivery on Saturday, becoming one of several businesses in the city to trial the new service offered by food delivery platform Just Eat. The robot is now operating daily from the shop, as well as from Bishopston Fish Bar, both owned by Nick Lomvardos.

Nick said he was “really chuffed” to be among the first in Bristol to take part. “The best fish and chip shop in Bristol, of course they were going to come to us first,” he said.

Customers ordering from Jolly Fryer are now given the choice of traditional delivery by bike or scooter, or having their food brought to them by robot.

“It’s very clever,” Nick explained. “We get the order and we’re given a QR code. We load the robot up with the food, scan the QR code, it spends a little time thinking about it and then off it goes. At first it was a little slow, but it shot up the hill.”

The four-wheeled, battery-powered robots are operated by Delivers.AI. Designed to understand and adapt to their surroundings, they avoid obstacles such as bins, grass and pedestrians, while moving safely alongside traffic and cyclists. Travelling at approximately 6.5km/h, the robots can cover up to 40 kilometres on a single full charge and are built to deliver in all weather conditions, including rain, sun, snow and wind. Each one has a 90-litre storage compartment and a five hour battery life.

When the robot arrives at its destination, customers receive a notification to their phone. “They put the QR code in front of the robot, it scans it and lifts the lid. It’s very clever,” Nick added.

Although the first robot delivery was around 10 minutes late – and Nick admitted it may have been quicker by scooter, with the food not quite “piping hot” – he said he is confident the technology will improve over time. Despite that, the customer left a four-star review, adding they understood “this is the future”.

Nick said the robot’s first outing sparked huge interest. “It was great, everyone was looking at it. It brings a smile to people’s faces,” he said. “It has a tracker, alarm and cameras all around it, so if someone does interfere with it or knock it over, it’s all recorded and I believe Just Eat can prosecute.”

A relatively late adopter of home deliveries, Nick only introduced the service two years ago and hopes the addition of robots will help drive sales further. He added: “I was always against doing deliveries, but then I realised you have to move with the times if you don’t want to be left behind. We only do about four or five a day at Bishopston because it’s a very traditional shop and people still like to come in and collect their order. But at Jolly Fryer, we can take 35 to 40 a day as there are a lot of students and younger people who want their food delivered.”

The robot operates between participating takeaways in the area as orders come in, waiting at a designated parking space outside the shop until it is needed again.

“We are giving customers the option of delivery by robot or normal delivery now,” Nick said. “It’s definitely the future – it’s the way things are going. You see them already delivering groceries and parcels, why not takeaways too?”

The innovation has already attracted attention beyond customers, with the shop contacted by its local MP, who is keen to visit and see the robot in action. “It’s great that we’re the first in the area to use it,” Nick added. “It shows we are moving with the times.”