Smoothies meet artificial intelligence — ASUCLA opens UCLA’s autonomous food kiosk, Jamba by Blendid
Located in the Terrace Food Court in Ackerman Student Union, the Jamba by Blendid kiosk is equipped with advanced technology such as AI to blend up to 45 custom smoothies per hour.
Los Angeles, Calif., Aug. 8, 2022 – First came the food delivery robots, now comes the innovative smoothie-making robot! A fully autonomous operating bot, Jamba by Blendid is Associated Students UCLA’s (ASUCLA) latest offering to bring delicious, freshly made smoothies to campus for the UCLA campus community to enjoy.
Officially opening in the Terrace Food Court in the Ackerman Student Union, level one, Jamba by Blendid is a self-operating robotic kiosk where those craving a crisp and refreshing drink can order Jamba® inspired smoothies prepared by robotic food technology by Blendid. From a Tropical Delight or Green Dream to a Choco Power — Bruins can customize their drinks by adjusting ingredient quantities or adding boosts and order their perfect blend directly through the Blendid app and schedule their pick-up time in advance.
“This partnership was an easy ‘yes’ for us, and we are thrilled to utilize Jamba by Blendid’s innovative technology to serve up refreshing, plant-forward smoothies for our Bruins with the impressive power of robotics and AI,” said Cindy Bolton, director of ASUCLA Food Operations.
This on-the-spot blending machine is fully autonomous and utilizes advanced technology such as robotics, machine learning and artificial intelligence to serve up refreshing food options on the spot. And — if you’re not already impressed — customers can select a preferred pick-up time for their smoothie and it will be made in under three minutes as the robotic food kiosk can make nine smoothies simultaneously and up to 45 custom blends in a single hour.
The Jamba by Blendid kiosk features two pick-up windows and is equipped with a robotic arm, three blenders, refrigerators and 20 dispensers that hold all produce and ingredients needed to blend the perfect smoothie.
“We’re thrilled to be opening a Jamba by Blendid at UCLA and look forward to working with ASUCLA to meet the needs of students as they flood back onto campus for summer sessions,” said Vipin Jain, CEO and co-founder, Blendid. “As students continue to embrace robotic food service options, we expect our new location at UCLA to quickly become an integral part of their daily routine by providing an easy way to quickly grab a nutritious, and delicious, meal on the go between their classes and activities.”
A first mover in the food-robot market, Blendid opened its first robotic smoothie kiosk commercially in early 2019 and has been working with Jamba since 2020. This new addition to the UCLA campus is the first Jamba by Blendid kiosk located at a west coast college campus. This smoothie kiosk is yet another contactless and inventively convenient food service brought to the UCLA campus by ASUCLA alongside the Starship Technologies delivery robots.
Download the AI-powered Blendid app and order your first Jamba by Blendid smoothie today!