Innovate UK Smart Grant Supports Karakuri’s Smart Kitchen Robotics
07 December 2022
A significant benefit of innovation is its contribution to economic growth. It helps drive higher productivity, which in turn increases the number of goods and services that are produced. This results in job creation, growth, and prosperity.
In today’s uncertain economic times, it’s more important than ever to build upon this country’s innovation foundations to create a robust economy that supports everyone. This is why investment in innovation is so critical – whether it involves introducing new approaches to existing product lines or processes or creating entirely new technologies or solutions.
Smart is Innovate UK’s responsive grant funding programme. It supports SMEs - like Karakuri - and their partners to develop disruptive innovations with significant potential for a rapid, economic return to the UK.
Earlier this year, Innovate UK selected Karakuri to receive one of their prestigious Smart Grants for the development of the company’s new /FRYR automated fry line, which is poised to revolutionize quick service (QSR) and fast casual restaurants. These intelligent, high-precision frying solutions enable restaurants to save time and reduce waste while ensuring perfectly cooked fried food is available exactly when needed.
“Government support is incredibly important when it comes to bringing ‘deep tech’ products to market, as they can be expensive and take a long time to get to fruition,” said Dr. Peter Schroder, CTO of Karakuri. “With the financial support provided by Innovate UK, we were able to execute our plans more quickly and with more certainty, enabling us to have /FRYR ‘demo ready’ for our customers sooner than expected.”
The /FRYR210, which is the first model in the /FRYR range of fry lines, delivers up to 130lbs / 60kg of french fries per hour. It leverages real-time insights to optimize output to match customer demand, regardless of staff availability. The /FRYR fry lines all incorporate Karakuri’s /APC automatic portion control technology, which allows each fry basket to be filled with just the right amount of frozen food to meet demand, enabling variable batch cook sizes, optimizing cook schedules to order profiles and increased kitchen efficiencies.
In today’s uncertain economic times, it’s more important than ever to build upon this country’s innovation foundations to create a robust economy that supports everyone. This is why investment in innovation is so critical – whether it involves introducing new approaches to existing product lines or processes or creating entirely new technologies or solutions.
Smart is Innovate UK’s responsive grant funding programme. It supports SMEs - like Karakuri - and their partners to develop disruptive innovations with significant potential for a rapid, economic return to the UK.
Earlier this year, Innovate UK selected Karakuri to receive one of their prestigious Smart Grants for the development of the company’s new /FRYR automated fry line, which is poised to revolutionize quick service (QSR) and fast casual restaurants. These intelligent, high-precision frying solutions enable restaurants to save time and reduce waste while ensuring perfectly cooked fried food is available exactly when needed.
“Government support is incredibly important when it comes to bringing ‘deep tech’ products to market, as they can be expensive and take a long time to get to fruition,” said Dr. Peter Schroder, CTO of Karakuri. “With the financial support provided by Innovate UK, we were able to execute our plans more quickly and with more certainty, enabling us to have /FRYR ‘demo ready’ for our customers sooner than expected.”
The /FRYR210, which is the first model in the /FRYR range of fry lines, delivers up to 130lbs / 60kg of french fries per hour. It leverages real-time insights to optimize output to match customer demand, regardless of staff availability. The /FRYR fry lines all incorporate Karakuri’s /APC automatic portion control technology, which allows each fry basket to be filled with just the right amount of frozen food to meet demand, enabling variable batch cook sizes, optimizing cook schedules to order profiles and increased kitchen efficiencies.
Learn More
You can see /FRYR in action here, or sign up for a free trial to try out the /FRYR fry line in your restaurant kitchen.
