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Zume, a new startup trying to make a more profitable pizza through robotics

bloomberg.com

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Re: Zume, a new startup trying to make a more profitable pizza through robotics

#71

Post by deveshparekh »

The kitchen opens today at noon. Instead of speculating about whether having an oven in the delivery truck makes a better pizza, I'll order a pizza today and then order the exact same pizza in August when they start using their oven truck and see if I notice any difference. If anybody else wants to try, you can use my referral code (https://zumepizza.com/#/r/593698), which will give you a free pizza and give me a free pizza credit to fund the August portion of my experiment.

I just hope nobody from Zume reads this and intentionally sabotages today's pizza.

Re: Zume, a new startup trying to make a more profitable pizza through robotics

#72

Post by simbalion »

bko wrote: post #25
ghaff wrote: post #20

> "Just imagine Domino's without the labor component," said Garden. "You can start to see how incredibly profitable that can be." So that quote leads me to imagine crappy pizza that's maybe a little cheaper than other crappy pizza. Doesn't exactly make me want to rush out and try it.

It appears that millions of Americans prefer Dominos pizza considering they command 25% of the US pizza delivery market and sell 1.5 mm pies a day. Sorry their pizza isn't up to your standards. http://marketrealist.com/2015/03/dominos-pizza-serving-1-5-m...

No, people are lazy and poor. Nobody actually likes Dominos.

People who like pizza tend to prefer local varieties that are unique to their area, at least that's been my experience.

Re: Zume, a new startup trying to make a more profitable pizza through robotics

#74

Post by throwawaysocks »

bko wrote: post #53
throwawaysocks wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> prefer Dominos IDK. I order Dominos a lot because I sometimes work weird hours and literally nothing else that delivers is open. That doesn't mean I prefer Dominos. I definitely don't. But it delivers to a large geographic region almost 24/7.

It sounds like you prefer Dominos for their delivery service, hours and geographic region.

That's an excellent example of a technical truth.

Re: Zume, a new startup trying to make a more profitable pizza through robotics

#75

Post by scottlocklin »

This is either going to end up dominating the food delivery business (unlikely, but possible) or present yet another case study in Silicon Valley delusions.

It's entirely possible, easy even, to automate the pizza making process. You can go to the grocery store and purchase frozen pizzas which have never been touched by human hands. Exactly none of them are made by industrial robots. Industrial robots cost more than a pizza assembly line does, and they don't do anything that the line can't do. The only way this could make sense is if they could get them robots to make lots of other things, but, well "best of luck with that." At $18 for a pizza, they obviously aren't saving enough money on labor to pass this on to consumers.

Re: Zume, a new startup trying to make a more profitable pizza through robotics

#76

Post by colinplamondon »

TheMagicHorsey wrote: post #69
mmanfrin wrote: post #4

Puff piece -- the idea of cooking pizzas in a truck is a good one, but the whole 'robotics' angle is a little trite. The only automated part seemed to be the sauce (which Costco does) and moving the pizza to the oven. I like the moving-pizza-truck idea, it's a shame this had to go the route of 'robotic pizzeria' since it's so blatantly a puff piece.

You beat me to it. I agree. I think this article is actually more interesting because it shows you something about how a good tech PR strategy works. Bloomberg undoubtedly saw, on-site, how ridiculous the robotics narrative was, but they went with it anyways, because it makes for a more viral story. This kind of PR is a collaborative effort and win-win. If you have a tech startup you should really think about the nar…

This is national media, for a local business - the audience of this is 100% investors, for the round they mention raising.

Re: Zume, a new startup trying to make a more profitable pizza through robotics

#77

Post by Fricken »

bizzleDawg wrote: post #16
mmanfrin wrote: post #4

Puff piece -- the idea of cooking pizzas in a truck is a good one, but the whole 'robotics' angle is a little trite. The only automated part seemed to be the sauce (which Costco does) and moving the pizza to the oven. I like the moving-pizza-truck idea, it's a shame this had to go the route of 'robotic pizzeria' since it's so blatantly a puff piece.

The idea of cooking on the road is great, but those wire conveyer racks that they're cooking on look like a nightmare to clean. I suspect cleaning all of those ovens will not be automatable for now either. on a different note, mini pizza ovens seem to be the best part of this startup, seems as though it could be a great product when combined with 'artisinal robot made' frozen pizza.

It seems unnessecarily complex having 56 separate ovens. Why not just one oven, that the driver loads up between deliveries? Am I missing something?

Re: Zume, a new startup trying to make a more profitable pizza through robotics

#78

Post by nickpsecurity »

mmanfrin wrote: post #4

Puff piece -- the idea of cooking pizzas in a truck is a good one, but the whole 'robotics' angle is a little trite. The only automated part seemed to be the sauce (which Costco does) and moving the pizza to the oven. I like the moving-pizza-truck idea, it's a shame this had to go the route of 'robotic pizzeria' since it's so blatantly a puff piece.

Plus they keep forgetting that people are cheaper robots. A VC our family knows designed in 90's SmartMart: a convenience store that was totally automated. You order at fuel-pump looking Kiosks, robots pull it from stock, and machine delivers it to your car as you pay. To think grocers brag about mere self-checkouts. Unfortunately, the SmartMarts cost around $10 mil versus about $1 mil for stores underpaying & overworking humans. It folded.

Re: Zume, a new startup trying to make a more profitable pizza through robotics

#79

Post by Keats »

mmanfrin wrote: post #4

Puff piece -- the idea of cooking pizzas in a truck is a good one, but the whole 'robotics' angle is a little trite. The only automated part seemed to be the sauce (which Costco does) and moving the pizza to the oven. I like the moving-pizza-truck idea, it's a shame this had to go the route of 'robotic pizzeria' since it's so blatantly a puff piece.

Pizza trucks are very common in my hometown (south of France) so it's not really something new either.

Re: Zume, a new startup trying to make a more profitable pizza through robotics

#80

Post by azinman2 »

ojbyrne wrote: post #7

I tried this, as they had a coupon for a free pizza in Mountain View. The pizza was just ok, and considering the many choices around here for really good pizza, I probably won't actually pay for one of theirs unless I have some indication that the quality has improved.

That's what I care about. Interesting to hear it's only ok. There's another startup called pi (app is now called Pythagoras) that's also trying to reinvent much about pizza, and theirs is currently my fav pizza in SF (certainly for delivery). Plus it's delivered within 15 min from request!
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