Imagine your sandwich and coffee flying in the sky and getting dropped on your rooftop, in the garden, or backyard within minutes of you ordering it online! That’s what a drone food delivery looks like. Get ready for this becoming a norm in the restaurant tech space just in a couple of years from now.
Note that it’s already happening in some major cities of China, US, Japan, and a few other technologically advanced nations.
Research shows that food delivery apps worldwide will soon adopt drone tech to deliver to the last mile in most urban & suburban areas. Regulatory and affordability hurdles are currently the two glaring factors restricting drone usage in the food delivery ordering system. As the said technology advances, with more delivery operators utilizing drones, the regulatory norms are destined to relax.
And with soaring competition among drone manufacturers worldwide, the costs involving purchase of drones will lower, thereby eventually improving the affordability of drone deliveries.
Data indicates that by 2034, the number of drone deliveries will rise to a whopping 808 million, generating a revenue of USD 65 billion by the year 2032.
Source : https://cee.pwc.com/drone-powered-solutions/drone-deliveries-taking-retail-and-logistics-to-new-heights.html
Ongoing applications of drones in fast food delivery
Food delivery systems involving drone technology are not rare in today’s day and age, with corporations like Wing, Flytrex, Zipline, DroneUp, and Domino’s Pizza, already performing the same in limited locations. In the times to come, this restaurant tech will expand across thousands of locations, eventually covering the entire globe.
Let’s discuss a few corporations that have already incorporated drones for online food delivery, and some notable startups offering the said service to major restaurant and food chains.
1: Wing (an Alphabet company)
Places being served: US (Virginia & Texas), Australia
Partner restaurants: Dominos, local grocery stores and cafes.
What all it delivers: Meals, snacks, and coffee.
2: Zipline (USA)
Partner Stores: Walmart & Sweetgreen
Current applications: Food delivery in suburban and urban regions leveraging VTOL tech with fixed wing drones.
Minimal Noise Eruption: Their food delivery drones hover in the sky, descend the package onto the ground using a tether, thereby keeping the noise in check.
3: Domino’s (Australia & New Zealand)
This megacorp dealing with fast food delivery of pizzas worldwide, is doing wonders when it comes to innovation in restaurant tech. They had successful pilot runs in New Zealand and Australia and now have plans to expand it further to other countries.
4: Uber Eats (US)
Locations being served: Successful testing in San Diego
Methodology used: Food orders are dropped at a designated zone, from where, Uber drivers pick them up and carry to the destination; i.e. customer’s address.
The Result: Faster online food delivery with increased customer satisfaction.
5: Manna Aero (Ireland & UK)
Applications: Drone delivery for fast food, medicine, and groceries.
Time needed to deliver: 3 minutes for orders within 2 kms.
Partner stores: Coca-Cola, caters to online ordering system for small businesses in nearby locations, restaurants in vicinity.
The Cost-Effectiveness Roadblock
While currently it ranges somewhere between USD 6 and USD 25 for an average drone delivery. However, in the years to come, the prices will drop significantly with ongoing tech advancements and relaxation in regulatory norms. Soon, it will match the cost-effectiveness of conventional delivery models.
How Drones Execute Food Deliveries?
- Customer places order on the app
- Drone is loaded with order particulars at restaurant
- GPS & sensor-enabled drone navigates through the route.
- Delivery by either landing at a designated spot or lowering the package on a tether.
Pros & Cons of Utilizing Drones for Food Delivery
While there exist endless benefits of food delivery using drones, there are a few limitations as well. We will discuss the same ahead.
While there exist endless benefits of food delivery using drones, there are a few limitations as well. We will discuss the same ahead.
- No-Contact Deliveries: Drone tech can be integrated with food delivery apps to make most of the online food ordering completely contactless.
- Sustainable Tech: They run on electric batteries, which eliminates the need of burning fossil fuels in transit.
- Highly Efficient: Capability of running operations 24/7, and huge savings on labor costs.
- Accessibility: Drones can easily deliver in hard-to-reach locations that are impossible to cover deploying the traditional delivery methods.
Limitations OR Cons with Drone Food Deliveries
- Battery backup: Majority of drones offer a limited travel range, not exceeding a flight time of 30 minutes.
- Load-carrying limits: Drones typically deliver food orders up to a certain weight limit. Hence, one cannot order a bulk of food items in a single transit.
- Stringent regulatory norms: Operating drones attract a huge set of regulations to abide by, including air space rules that are country specific.
- Weather-led Hurdles: Windstorms, hail, rain, and related weather extremities can restrict drones from flying altogether.
- Privacy and safety-related concerns: Invading people’s privacy, mid-air malfunction and collision, can be a few concerns that can restrict drone operations.
Future of Food Deliveries deploying Drones
We will see a series of disruptive developments taking place in the next five years, mostly involving advanced automation and the application of AI in restaurant delivery operations. Here are a few trends expected to rule the world of online food delivery in the immediate future.
Ordering food online for delivery might take less than 10 minutes
The idea of receiving food delivery within 10 minutes will not be far-fetched. People in the downtown area of any major city will get their meals delivered hot and fresh in no time.
Rise of VTOL Drone Deliveries
To cater to urban areas with dense infrastructure, VTOL or Vertical takeoff & landing drones, will prove to be a huge blessing.
Multi-Compartment Drones with Distinct Hot & Cold Pockets
These will carry diverse food types and meals together in the same commute, and under a single order. For instance, hot coffee and ice cream, both at the same time, in different compartments (hot/cold).
AI-Powered Logistics for Safer Delivery Operations
Food delivery with drones will exploit smart AI capabilities to ensure safer flights, by automatically sensing route obstacles, perform re-routing if needed, and identifying optimal spots for drop-offs. As technology advances, AI integration with smart logistics and GPS tech will further help in optimizing routes for online food dispatch.
Rooftop Drone Launchpads & Drop-off Zones
Restaurants, food courts, and shopping malls in the coming time, will have their in-house drone launch and drop off sites. Residential buildings and corporate offices will imitate the same model.
Sustainable restaurant tech with greener operations
Food delivery drones will be made up of bio-composite material and will power themselves via solar-run charging facilities, thereby limiting the carbon footprint.
Concluding Thoughts
We will witness restaurant tech growing leaps and bounds, with AI-powered automation optimizing everything, from receiving online food orders, to its prep, to dispatching it within minutes, to flying the food orders to customer’s address, all at affordable pricing.
The future looks exciting, rewarding, and limitless when it comes to exploiting drone tech in the food transit domain. Global fast-food chains and quick service restaurants or QSRs will benefit the most in the immediate future, with small restaurant businesses and local eateries being the next in line.
