Yo-Kai Express, the developer of a robotic ramen vending machine, plans to expand its offering by introducing a mobile vending machine by the end of Q1 or the beginning of Q2 2021. The self-driving machine will travel along specific routes and react when hailed by a mobile device or waved by a person.

The company is currently in talks with the Universities of California at Berkeley and Irvine to place its machines at the campus premises, which will allow Yo-Kai to avoid certain regulatory measures regarding the movement of autonomous vehicles in public spaces. 

The company also introduced Takumi, a new ramen cooking tool for consumers to reconstitute and heat the company’s frozen mail-order ramen.

In addition, Yo-Kai plans to offer its platform to other well-known ramen restaurants in Japan to co-brand and sell meals by recreating their recipes. 

Yo-Kai initially started serving ramen in its robotic vending machine at malls, airports, and corporate campuses, with the ramen recipes created by a Michelin-star chef. The frozen noodles are stored in the machine, which reheats and serves the customer within 45 seconds when ordered on the touchscreen. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in April 2020, the company introduced meal kits that directly ship to consumers on the West Coast.