Chipotle and Cava mode competing to stop with a $ 25 million bet on restaurant automation

Heefin, a food services platform that works to automate cooking operations – has raised meals in collecting stations – $ 25 million of financing B series led by the Chipotle Cultive Venture fund, which invested $ 15 million, and Cava, which contributed $ 5 million with an additional commitment of $ 5 million subject to terms.

“This new funding is one of the most famous brands in the fast fast industry is a testimony to the Impact Hyphen team that he owns in restaurants,” said Stephen Klein, CEO and co -founder of HaPhen.

Chipotle is The former investor In connection, but this represents the first major investment in Cava in automation.

“I definitely see a lot of opportunities in connection,” CAVA CFO TOLIVAR told CAVA CFO TOLIVAR luck.

Tolvar said that the co -founder of Cava, CEO Brett Schulman and the leadership team believe that technology should enhance the humanitarian experience, and not replace it, “and the equipment of the connection does so completely.” She added that Cava looked at the connection and similar concepts for several months, and it is confident that this partnership is a wise step.

“Chipotle is in fast space and sees this investment in a similar way, and we are pleased to be able to partner with them,” Tolavar said.

Chipotle specializes in the Mexican dishes, which are characterized by beans, rice, SASSA and Jawagul, while Cava focuses on Mediterranean flavors such as chickpeas, tizziki, vita, fresh vegetables, and grains. Both provide grilled meat and compete for the loyalty of the brand between consumers who appreciate fresh ingredients and customizable meals, built.

In CAVA restaurants, the connection of what Tolivar describes as the “Make Second”-an area at the back of the house where team members prepare all dishes and digital requests (delivery and receipt) separately from the recipient guests. She explained that the HaPhen system will allow the team members to prepare a bowl or beta at the top, with the production of additional vessels automatically at the bottom of the same ingredients, increased speed and productivity. Technology also aims to improve the accuracy of digital demand.

“Most importantly, it’s really about making the lives of our team members easier,” she added. Tolver said that Cava is still in the test, so it will be a few months before the deployment of technology in restaurants.

On Tuesday, the company reported on the second quarter of the fiscal year on July 13 that CAVA’s revenues grew by 20.3 % on an annual basis to 278.2 million dollars. Tolivar said about 37 % of sales in the quarter were digital. Sales grew in the second quarter of the same teenager by 2.1 %, while the company opened the net 16 new restaurants, thus a total of 398-increasing 16.7 % on an annual basis.

As for Chipotle, in November, Scott Putrait He became the Permanent CEO, after the departure of Brian Nicole, who is now the CEO of Starbucks.

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