Foodservice and facilities management company Sodexo has partnered with self-driving robotic delivery vehicles maker Starship Technologies to introduce robot food delivery services at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, US.
As part of the deal, students, faculty and staff of the university can use the Starship Deliveries app to order food and drinks.
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The company is offering the service in conjunction with student meal plans by charging $1.99 a delivery.
Major restaurant chains such as Blaze Pizza, Starbucks, and Dunkin’ have also joined the partnership. Sodexo plans to add more operators to the network in the coming weeks.
To use the service, customers need to place their order on the Starship Deliveries app and highlight their location on the interactive map. They will receive a notification after the robot reaches the location.
The robot will take around 15 minutes to deliver the food, which the customers can collect by unlocking the robot using the app.
Sodexo USA Universities East CEO Jim Jenkins said: “University dining programmes are evolving their strategies to meet this generation’s elevated expectations such as better quality, variety and service delivery.
“George Mason University’s culture of innovation and early adoption makes it the perfect campus for Sodexo and Starship to introduce this cutting-edge technology and enhance the campus experience for the entire school community.”
The company is also using a fleet of more than 25 robots for this project to deliver autonomous robot food delivery services on a university campus.
Sodexo and Starship also plan to further expand the programme to additional campus locations worldwide.
