Blendid, a robotic food service solutions leader, today announced the opening of an autonomous robotic smoothie kiosk at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU).
“There is no denying the current robotics evolution in the food service industry, and we are thrilled to work with Blendid to give FGCU students access to these innovative, proven food service solutions,” said Antoinette Biffar, FGCU. “Today’s college students crave more meal service offerings, especially when it comes to fresh, nutritious options they can order easily from their phone and grab on-the-go. We are looking forward to seeing how our campus community embraces the new kiosk.”
The new 8 by 8-foot kiosk will allow Florida Gulf Coast University students, faculty, staff and campus visitors to enjoy freshly made smoothie options powered by Blendid’s contactless food automation platform, foodOS®, a patented machine learning, robotics, and artificial intelligence-enabled system. Located in the FGCU Cohen Student Union food court and accessible when the Cohen Student Union is open, the kiosk accepts campus tender, meal membership declining balance (Flex), and credit cards.
“We are working with campuses like Florida Gulf Coast University to give consumers around the country around-the-clock access to fresh, nutritious, and incredibly delicious food options on-the-go,” said Vipin Jain, CEO and co-founder of Blendid. “Our first location in Florida is an important first step, and we look to expand our reach to more campuses across the country as our robotic kiosks become a college food service offering staple.”
After customizing their order by adjusting ingredient quantities or adding boosts at the kiosk or directly through the Blendid App, customers can either schedule a convenient pick-up time or watch the robot make their orders. The kiosk can make a smoothie in under three minutes, nine smoothies simultaneously, up to 45 custom blends in a single hour, and can be accessible 24-hours a day, seven days a week when location traffic demands.
Blendid kiosks are becoming a valued addition to campus meal offerings with a steadily growing presence at college campuses. The new location at Florida Gulf Coast University is the first in Florida. Blendid also operates kiosks in California and Georgia in universities, travel stops, retail stores, and a hospital.
About Blendid
Sunnyvale-based Blendid is revolutionizing the future of food service with its proprietary food automation platform (foodOS®), which efficiently and safely prepares and serves a range of healthy, fresh, and delicious food. A pioneer of the future of food service, Blendid’s first concept in the market is an autonomous, contactless kiosk that uses robotics, machine vision, artificial intelligence, and healthy ingredients to create delicious smoothies that are customized to meet the unique health and dietary preferences of each consumer. Founded in 2015 by seasoned Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Vipin Jain, Venki Ayalur, and Vijay Dodd, Blendid is improving the consumer experience by offering safe, cost-effective, and personalized food on-demand, while also reducing complexities and costs for the operators. Visit https://www.blendid.com/ for more information.
About Florida Gulf Coast University
Located just south of Fort Myers and north of Naples on the Southwest Florida coast, Florida Gulf Coast University encompasses 800 acres on which academic buildings, residence halls and athletics facilities share space with wetlands, pinewoods and boardwalks in a natural setting. FGCU serves 16,000 students and offers more than 95 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. It emphasizes a university-wide commitment to sustainability and service learning, with students having completed more than 4 million hours of service since the university opened in 1997. With six colleges, FGCU is committed to serving Southwest Florida with academic programs designed to meet the workforce demands of the five-county region. Growing interdisciplinary programs include The Water School and the Daveler & Kauanui School of Entrepreneurship. To learn more about FGCU, visit www.fgcu.edu.