These robots are changing cooking forever. But one thing will never change

The robotics ecosystem in Japan is amazing. And confusing.

It's a collection of crazy ideas, odd creations, and true breakthroughs. And despite the combination of fawning prise and snide skepticism that Japanese robotics evoke in the international press, only time can really separate the true breakthroughs from the dead ends.

Today, we sit down with Tez Sawanobori, the founder of Connected Robotics, and we talk about how robots are being adopted in the restaurant industry here in Japan.

Connected Robotics already has two lines of consumer-visible robots being used in restaurants in Japan, and the reaction from the owners, the employees, and the customers has been overwhelmingly positive and quite a bit different than similar experiments run in America.

We talk about the strong economic and social pressures affecting the adoption of robots in restaurants and discuss the changes he had to make before chefs and robots can really work side by side.

It's a great conversation, and I think you will really enjoy it.

Show Notes

The real reason we need robots chefs The unlikely founding of Connected Robotics Why the restaurant business is so hard to disrupt Looking at the real economics of food prep robots What’s holding back robotics in restaurants Can robotics really solve the labor shortage in Japan? How Japanese employment practices make it harder to use robots but increase the need for them How Japan can catch up to the US and China in robotics research The best way for American and Japanese robotics engineers to work together The future of foreign workers in Japan

Links from the Founder

Everything you wanted to know about Connected Robotics Watch a video of the OctoChef in action Follow Tez on Twitter @tezsawa Friend him on Facebook Connect on LinkedIn

Leave a comment Transcript Welcome to Disrupting Japan, straight talk from Japan’s most successful entrepreneurs.

I’m Tim Romero and thanks for joining me.

Today, we’re going to be talking about the OctoChef.

“What the hell is the OctoChef?” you might ask, and that would be a good and quite reasonable question.

The OctoChef was created by Connected Robotics and it’s a robot that makes Takoyaki, and we’re going to sit down with founder Tez Sawanobori and talk about why it’s important.

It’s important to understand that the OctoChef is not just some crazy side project of Tez and the team, although I guess it was the very first time I met them, but no, now, the OctoChef is being used in both small scale, single restaurant installations and industrial scale factory installations.

Tez and I talk in detail about how Japanese react to robotics and work with robots very differently than westerners do. We also sit down and eat some pretty good robot-cooked Takoyaki and take a hard look at the question of whether the OctoChef is just a novelty or a fad, or if on the other hand, it’s solving a real problem.

The answer turns out to be yes but the reason why is pretty surprising.

But you know, Tez tells that story much better than I can, so let’s get right to the interview.

[pro_ad_display_adzone id="1404" info_text="Sponsored by" font_color="grey" ] Interview Tim: So, I’m sitting here with Tez Sawanobori from Connected Robotics, the maker of the OctoChef, so thanks for sitting down with me.

Tez: Yeah, thank you for having me in this great show.

Tim: Thank you. What is the OctoChef?

Tez: OctoChef cooks Takoyaki. Takoyaki is octopus ball popular in Japanese festivals, you see a lot of Takoyaki stalls.

Tim: Yeah, the round little – and they’re awesome, it’s great food.

Tez: Yeah, yeah, it’s a popular Japanese fast food, and a robot cooks Takoyaki and it’s from pouring oil to serving to the dish, all the process the robots do.

Tim: Okay, so in the process, the humans still have to create the batter?

Tez: Yes.

Tim: And, I guess deliver the cooked Takoyaki to the customer.

Tez: Yeah.

Tim: The robot handles everything else? And you actually launched the first commercial use of this in Nagasaki a while ago, so how’s been the reaction of the customers to the robot Takoyaki chef?

Tez: Customers look very pleased to eat Takoyaki cooked by robots and this is a special occasion for them, and especially in Nagasaki, there’s a theme park called Huis Ten Bosch, so they enjoy looking at robots working.

Tim: Okay. Yeah, I want to talk about like the business model in detail in a few minutes, but before that, let’s back up a bit and talk about you.

Tez: Okay.

Tim: So, you founded Connected Robotics in 2014 but before that, you started a restaurant right out of college, right?

Tez: Yeah, right. I studied Robotics and Computer Science in the University of Tokyo and later, I went to Kyoto University and researched Computer Science, but when I graduated, I wanted to start my own business. Of course, I tried some web services, but I didn’t get satisfied with this kind of IT.

Tim: Really?

Tez: So, first thing I wanted to do was making a cool restaurant.

Tim: It’s a lot of work! What kind of restaurant was it?

Tez: Oh, at first, I really liked jazz music so I wanted to make like a jazz club, but at the same time, I want to make some family-friendly restaurant with good music. I really want family and small children to come to our restaurant and enjoy our food and atmosphere.

Tim: So, what happened to the restaurant?

Tez: Oh, actually, I didn’t have much money, obviously, because .. –

Tim: You just graduated, right

Tez: Yeah, yeah, I just, yes, started working after grad school, so I planned several restaurants and brought my idea to many presidents of restaurant chains, and one of them was very interested in me and the plan, so I joined this company and set up several restaurants, including Italian, American, Japanese food restaurants.

Tim: Oh, wow.

Tez: Yeah.

Tim: Why did you decide to leave the restaurant business?

Tez: Until then, I had several experience in restaurants, like during summertime, I worked in izakaya and my grandparents owned their restaurant, and I thought I know a lot of restaurants, but actually, I worked in the restaurant and found that, well, all the work are very hard, very long.

Tim: It’s hard, hard work.

Tez: Yeah, yeah, so I found myself working like, 100 hours per week.

Tim: Oh, wow.

Tez: And exhausted. So, I wanted to come back to technology side. I belonged to a robotics club in the University of Tokyo and won a competition called RobotCon for the first time for the university.

Tim: How many years were you working with the restaurants?

Tez: Oh, just one year.

Tim: Oh, just one year?

Tez: Exactly one year, yes.

Tim: Okay, and so during that time, you’re still active and interested in robotics?

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Tez: Oh, yeah, yes. Yes, for sure.

Tim: So, did the idea for food robots come to you while you were working at the restaurant and that’s why you quit or you just had to get out of the restaurant?

Tez: Oh, yes, yes. Many people, while I was working in the restaurants, recommended me to start this kind of business, robot restaurant, but at that time, I thought it was too difficult to deploy robots in restaurants because all the operations are so complicated. It’s really difficult.

Tim: Yeah, yeah, cooking is an incredibly complicated process and kitchens are tiny.

Tez: Yeah, usually, tasks are not so organized and oh, yeah, so I couldn’t find any good work for robots. Just, I felt overwhelmed.

Tim: But you gave it a try anyway.

Tez: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Tim: Actually, I saw you guys at Maker Faire a couple years ago.

Tez: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Tim: And it was the same – I mean, it has gotten a lot better since then, but it was the same Takoyaki-making machine.

Tez: Yeah, yeah, yeah. At that time, we showed our first prototype.

Tim: Maker Faire is actually, it’s a really fun place to go. There’s so much creativity in robotics and automation in Japan right now.

Tez: Yeah, yeah, that’s true. Yeah, everybody is trying and challenging something new. Some of them look very strange, but –

Tim: Yeah, there’s a lot of strange crazy stuff, but to be fair, when I first saw you guys there, I was thinking, okay, Takoyaki-making robot, that’s kind of strange, you made a business of it.

Tez: Yeah, at first, my ex-colleagues always told me that, “It’s really strange,” and “You shouldn’t do that,” and “It’s crazy!” and something like that.

Tim: Yeah, and I’m sure you still hear that occasionally, but let’s talk about the business model. So, what is the revenue model? Are you selling robots or selling services, or selling Takoyaki?

Tez: Okay, basically, we don’t make the robot itself. We integrate this robot and make it as a package and sell this to our customers, that is restaurants. Firstly, we sell this package, but from the second time, we will lend this robot and charge monthly.

Tim: Okay, and what does the OctoChef cost monthly?

Tez: ¥250,000 per month.

Tim: Okay, so $2000 a month?

Tez: Yeah, roughly.

Tim: Okay, I know the OctoChef makes Takoyaki, but does it do the work of like, a full-time staff? $2000 a month is not much compared to what you have to pay employees and things to do same work, but how much work does it actually do?

Tez: Actually, Takoyaki requires high skill, and Takoyaki restaurants usually train the employee, and it costs a lot. It takes time and costs a lot. With the robots, they can save this training and hiring process.

Tim: For the restaurants that are buying this, is the motivation saving money or is the motivation the novelty, the kind of the cool factor of people watching the robot make Takoyaki?

Tez: Yeah, of course, at first, their first purpose is to get novelty and show this robot,