Chipotle's Avocado Machine Is Finally Making Its Debut — But it Swears It's Not Taking Human Jobs

It takes '26 seconds to fully flesh out the fruit inside an avocado.'

Chipotle Mexican Grill is finally ready to catapult its restaurants into the future.

On Monday, the chain announced the long-awaited in-store introduction of Autocado, its avocado robot (which it calls a "cobot" as it works alongside humans, not replacing them), to one of its restaurants. But that's not all. Autocado is also being joined by the Augmented Makeline, another "cobotic" device that will make the bowl-making process totally seamless.

“These cobotic devices could help us build a stronger operational engine that delivers a great experience for our team members and our guests while maintaining Chipotle’s high culinary standards,” Curt Garner, the chief customer and technology officer at Chipotle, shared in a statement provided to Food & Wine. “Optimizing our use of these systems and incorporating crew and customer feedback are the next steps in the stage-gate process before determining their broader pilot plans.”

As for exactly where customers can see these robots in action, the Autocado is currently operating at Chipotle’s Huntington Beach, Calif. location at 20972 Magnolia St, while the Augmented Makeline is being utilized at the company’s Corona del Mar (CDM), Calif. location at 3050 East Coast Hwy.

Related: Chipotle Is Investing $100 Million in the Future of Food — and Is Open to Your Ideas

The brand first revealed the concept of the Autocado in 2023, explaining at the time that the machine works by having a human team member load it with a full case of ripe avocados (up to 25 pounds at once), who then select the size setting.

"One at a time, avocados are vertically oriented, then transferred to the processing device," Chipotle stated . "The avocados are sliced in half. Their cores and skin are automatically removed, and the waste is discarded." Then, the fruit is collected in a stainless-steel bowl, and a team member moves it to the counter where they "add additional ingredients and hand mash the avocados to make Chipotle's signature guacamole."

According to Chipotle, on average, it takes Autocado approximately "26 seconds to fully flesh out the fruit inside an avocado." Using the machine, Chipotle added, human workers at the Huntington Beach location can instead focus on assisting with other food prep activities

Related: Chipotle Is Releasing an All-New Chicken Flavor — and It's Already Wildly Popular

As for the Augmented Makeline, which was created in collaboration with Hyphen, it allows workers to automate the bowl and salad-building process, freeing up workers to focus on making burritos, tacos, and quesadillas. "Approximately 65% of all Chipotle digital orders are bowls or salads, so the Augmented Makeline can improve employee efficiency and digital order accuracy, ensuring a more consistent experience for digital guests," Chipotle stated.

It appears Chipotle has no plans of slowing down its innovation either. As Food & Wine previously reported, the brand has invested more than $100 million in its Cultivate Next program to bring more bright ideas to the forefront. And it's inviting literally anyone to pitch their ideas. So, if you think you've got a great new way to make its restaurants more efficient or have a food product you want to bring to its attention, you can simply apply by emailing cultivatenext@chipotle.com.

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