Aldi launches in-store pizza robot for hungry shoppers

Hot lunches are big business, and one Aldi store in Sydney has employed a brand new robot to get a pizza the action.

Through a partnership with Bondi startup Placer Robotics, Aldi is launching ‘Pizzabot’, the first ever pizza vending machine to be entirely designed and manufactured in Australia.

According to the budget supermarket, Pizzabot will serve up “restaurant-grade pizza in just two minutes”.

The autonomous takeaway will be available exclusively in the Aldi Corner Store in North Sydney, with prices starting at $8.99.

The Corner Store opened in July last year, marking Aldi’s first foray into small-format stores, self-checkouts and ready-to-go meals.

Pizzabot can cook up to 17 pizzas per hour — or about 450 a day. A glass front will also allow peckish consumers to watch their pie being cooked and packaged before it’s delivered, piping hot, into their waiting hands.

The robot, however, falls short of actual cheffing. The pizza bases are handmade by humans each morning, partially cooked and topped with various ingredients.

The machine provides a chilled and temperature controlled environment for the pizzas until they are selected and automatically cooked and delivered.

In a statement, Matt Lipski, founder of Placer Robotics and the Pizzabot brand, said Aldi Corner Store was “our ideal collaborator to launch Pizzabot in Australia”.

“Our vision was to give time-poor consumers restaurant grade pizza that is quick, delicious, healthy and affordable,” he added.

Pizzabot co-founders Anton Vinokurov and Matt Lipski. Source: supplied.

Aldi Corner Store director Huw Longman added that shoppers are “motivated by quality, value and supporting local”.

“We are extremely excited by our collaboration with Pizzabot, a true Aussie innovation, to deliver great quality pizza and a unique experience, at the lowest price point,” he added.

If you were hoping to find a pizza robot in an Aldi store near you sometime soon, however, you may be disappointed.

According to the supermarket, Pizzabot is running on a trial basis for a limited time in the Corner Store. There are currently no plans to launch Pizzabots in any other Aussie stores.