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This automated bread maker from Wilkinson Baking Company (The BreadBot!) was certainly an eye catcher on the floor. (And, you know, the complimentary samples with butter didn’t hurt either. The BreadBot is specifically designed for grocery stores — it makes about 10 loaves per hour for a total daily capacity of 230 loaves.
The “Marty” robot (which recently escaped from a Giant Food Store) also made an appearance at NGA. The autonomous robot, which can do things like identify and report spills in store, can also report on shelf activity. In 2019, Ahold Delhaize rolled out some 500 of the robots (which are made by Badger Technologies), and you can find them at Stop and Shop and Woodman’s.
Who likes printing? This ShoptoCook kiosk makes it a heck of a lot easier. Shoppers can look up (and print) a whole bunch of things, including recipes, coupons, and loyalty-related rewards. There’s the kiosk, but shoppers additionally have access to the same platform online if they’re inclined that way instead.
Sustainability? These compostable bags from Crown Poly definitely tick that box. The bags (which look an awful lot like their plastic counterparts) are derived from renewable agricultural raw materials and can biodegrade in composts and soil, as well as freshwater and saltwater.
Finally: Instacart’s smart cart. In 2021, Instacart announced its acquisition of tech company Caper AI, which resulted in the birth of the Caper Cart, which allows shoppers to sync their grocery list to a touchscreen on the cart. Grocery stores like Wakefern Food Corp., Schnucks, and Kroger are already using the cart, which requires no app download, and no registration on the user’s part. At NGA, on the show floor, Instacart said the company is working on integrating the cart with its digital shelf tags (“carrot tags”), which would then allow for shoppers using the carts to get flagged with real-time deals via a flashing shelf tag. Stay tuned.
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