Pulmuone, South Korea’s leading company for wholesome foods showcased the unmanned instant cooking platform “Chulchul Box Robot Chef” earlier this year. It is South Korea’s first smart, ready-to-eat vending machine that Pulmuone created through collaboration with the U.S. smart vending startup “Yo-Kai Express.” Vice President of Marketing at Pulmuone Foods USA Nam Sung-yoon, Pulmuone founder Nam Seung-woo’s son, led the contract with Yo-Kai Express.
The robot chef cooks frozen food products on demand and completes them in about 90 seconds. Four types of noodle dishes are available, including meat jjampong and tonkatsu ramen. Whereas existing unmanned cookers can only heat the food, Chulchul Box Robot Chef utilizes high-temperature steam for instant cooking. Since the robot adopts the steaming method, fresh noodles are used instead of dried ones, and vegetables such as mung-bean sprouts are used in their raw form.
While the “Chulchul Box,” the unmanned sales platform launched in 2019, provides a range of home meal replacement options, including room temperature, refrigerated, and frozen meals, the latest robot chef specializes in instantly preparing noodles and rice dishes with soup. It is targeted at corporate cafeterias. This strategic diversification of their unmanned sales platform aims to bolster their business-to-business (B2B) operations.
“We needed to diversify sales channels amidst stagnant demand due to declining birth rates and shorter shopping trips resulting from shifting consumption patterns,” said Kang Jin-kyu, head of the U-Biz team at Pulmuone’s Food Innovation division, who led the project, and “Through the Chulchul Robot Chef, we want to reach out to customers more actively and let them enjoy Pulmuone’s good products anytime, anywhere,” adding, “The biggest advantage is that they can enjoy restaurant-cooked food at a low price and in a short time, rather than instant food 24 hours a day.”
Kang emphasized that there will be ongoing demand for the robot, particularly from businesses grappling with high prices and labor shortages. He analyzed that while restaurants increasingly rely on serving robots to offset labor costs, their robot chef will stand out for its ability to operate unmanned cooking machines around the clock at competitive prices. Another advantage is that it offers semi-cooked meals rather than instant meals. Furthermore, its provision of semi-cooked meals, as opposed to instant options, adds to its allure. Pulmuone’s dedicated research and development endeavors have yielded customized raw noodles specifically designed for Robot Chef’s cooking process, guaranteeing the utmost flavor.
Although it is early in its launch, the market response has been positive. “In general, customers are hesitant to use the robotic device at first because they are unfamiliar with it, but once they get used to it, repurchase rates soar,” said Kang. “One restaurant’s sales, for example, increased by nearly three times in April compared to January.”
Since its official rollout in January, Chulchul Box Robot Chef is currently available at highway rest areas, suburban resorts, and outdoor cafes. With an eye toward rapid growth, the company targets businesses with a high demand for smart unmanned restaurants, such as large companies and university cafeterias. Discussions are underway for potential entry into major department store staff cafeterias. The goal is to establish partnerships with over 50 companies within the year.
The company also plans to diversify the Robot Chef menu. Currently, the robot mainly serves hot noodle dishes with soup, but they are working on menus such as rice bowls and bibimbap.
