Restaurants are a tough business with tight margins, from the cost of food to paying for staff. Kernel, the new venture by Steve Ells, the founder and former CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill, is trying to fix that by introducing food-making robots and a “digital-first” approach to restaurants. In this conversation from the WSJ Global Food Forum in June, reporter Heather Haddon talks with Ells about his new bet on consumers’ desire to eat less meat, and on a business model that could solve some of the industry’s thorny challenges.

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Further reading: 
<a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/hospitality/restaurant-robots-flippy-chippy-autocado-9de44eeb?st=8t253lk7pyf0thp&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink">Rise of the Restaurant Robots: Chipotle, Sweetgreen and Others Bet on Automation</a> 
<a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/hospitality/how-chipotles-founder-is-moving-beyond-burritos-5c1d7fe4?st=fnh37zdgbs63xp4&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink">How Chipotle’s Founder Is Moving Beyond Burritos</a> 
<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/chipotles-labor-costs-are-rising-customers-will-see-it-in-pricing-f1f16015?st=x8x5m1qf2d6kw65&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink">Chipotle’s Labor Costs Are Rising. Customers Will See It in Pricing.</a> 


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Can Robots Reinvent Fast Food?

Restaurants are a tough business with tight margins, from the cost of food to paying for staff. Kernel, the new venture by Steve Ells, the founder and former CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill, is trying to fix that by introducing food-making robots and a “digital-first” approach to restaurants. In this conversation from the WSJ Global [&hellip;]