EU to launch robotic pizza delivery

Domino’s Pizza Enterprises (Domino) launched the pilot programme with Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis, co-founders of Skype, who now own UK-based Starship Technologies.

The scheme will see the Starship robots deliver pizzas to customers within a one-mile radius of Domino’s stores in selected German and Dutch cities.

‘Perfect topping’​

“We’re shared in our vision with Domino’s to constantly improve convenience for the customer,​” said Ahti Heinla, CEO, Starship Technologies.

“Not only is Domino’s pizza delicious, but the perfect topping is giving back the luxury of time and control to the customer, and our robots are best placed to offer this.​”

Domino’s Pizza Enterprises claims to be the largest pizza chain in Australia and has a network of stores across New Zealand, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Japan and Germany. The company is owned by US-based Domino’s​ Pizza Inc.

Innovative technology​

“We are a global company and we are eager to progress innovative technology in all of the countries in which we operate – we are very excited to be partnering with Starship as it brings regular deliveries by robot one step closer to commercial operations,​” said Don Meij, Domino’s group CEO and managing director.

“Robotic delivery units will complement our existing delivery methods, including cars, scooters and e-bikes, ensuring our customers can get the hottest, freshest-made pizza delivered directly to them, wherever they are.​

“With our growth plans over the next five to 10 years, we simply won’t have enough delivery drivers if we do not look to add to our fleet through initiatives such as this.​”

Starship Technologies has already launched partnerships with Postmates, DoorDash, Just Eat, Hermes Parcel Delivery, Swiss Post and Wolt.