Since late last month, Costa Mesa-based Nékter Juice Bar has been a part of a project testing an automated type of delivery.
The juice and smoothie chain was approached by automation and delivery firm Flyby Robotics to be one of the first restaurants to participate in their test launch of delivery drones.
Founded in 2020, Los Angeles-based Flyby was created by Cat Orman and Jason
Lu, who met as undergraduates at Yale University during an incubator program. The partners became interested in the use of lightweight drone technology and its potential use in the retail marketplace.
Orman, the startup’s chief operating officer, recalls the choice to focus on delivery services based on being “hungry college kids” who had a lot of experience with food delivery, she told the Business Journal with a laugh.
Lu had majored in the philosophy of artificial intelligence while Orman had studied aviation and skydiving. The co-founders have spent the last few years building a team of aerospace and software engineers from NASA and Costa Mesa’s Anduril Industries to build the initial delivery system.
There was always interest from restaurants in the Flyby technology, Orman said.
Automated programs like drones aim to be less expensive for many quick-service restaurants (QSR) with the promise of lower delivery fees.
The unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are faster than car-based courier systems, according to Flyby. Its delivery times average under four minutes and have a $3 fee.
Nékter’s Chief Marketing Officer Jon Asher said these savings will be passed on to the customer.
Nékter and three other restaurants are running the test with Flyby at a shopping center in Mesa, Ariz., and started delivering by drone on March 22. It’s the first time Flyby’s technology has delivered to real users and will run for a few weeks.
“Drone delivery has a potential not just for QSRs but also a lot of industries,” Orman said of plans to add more partners in the future. “[It] will completely transform how we can get our goods in the next few years.”
Flying Smoothies
Each restaurant in the test has a single drone responsible for the delivery orders that come through from within a mile radius from the shopping center. A launchpad is placed in front of the store where employees can load the food on the drone and acts as a parking space for the automated device.
The Flyby drone is dubbed the Winch Y and can carry up to 3 pounds, or six McDonald’s Big Mac burgers, and run continuously for 300 hours. The drone will hover over the given address and lower the order to the ground with its integrated winch machine.
“Drone delivery makes the most sense for everyone involved,” Asher told the Business Journal. The marketing exec noted that Nékter had also been exploring artificial intelligence in a few of its operations.
“The industry in general is getting more tech-based,” he added. “I can’t imagine that could ever be boring.”
