Hyphen

Hyphen, (formerly known as Ono Food Company) has developed an automated food assembly robot, that can also be fitted into a van for mobility. The company came out of stealth in August 2021 and launched its “Makeline” food assembly robot. Hyphen mainly targets fast casual restaurants that make meals for pick-up and delivery. The company claims that the robot can produce over 350 meals per hour (with zero defects) and can be integrated with the existing makeline of a restaurant, without specific plumbing or drainage needs. It offers the robot under several modules including, "Mixing Module" (dispenses ingrediants for salads and bowls), "Beverage Module"  (dispenses beverages), "Lid and Label Module" (secures lids and labels with customer's information), "Portion Cup Fill Module" (fills dressings and sauces into portion cups), "Tray Denesting Module" (dispenses bowls or plates) etc.

Moreover, it also offers a “KitchenOS”, which assists with other restaurant functions such as creating recipes, fulfilling multiple orders, and informing the cooks on what food to prepare, among others.

Hyphen is offered at an initial cost of USD 10,000 (as of August 2021 and also charges users on a pay-per-use basis. The company had signed deals with eight partners as of August 2021, seven fast casual restaurants, and one co-packer for a grocer. Reportedly, the company secured “hundreds of pre-orders” in 2021. It plans to fulfill the orders over the 2022–2023 and open the system for new reservations late 2022 for 2024 deployments.

Key customers and partnerships

In September 2023, Hyphen partnered with Chipotle Mexican Grill to launch its robotic burrito bowl-making assembly line, Makeline, at Chipotle locations. Hyphen also partnered with Chipotle in September 2024, to develop "Augmented Makeline," an automated system for assembling bowls and salads.