UK's first robotic pizza machine to be trialled in Sussex

The Pizza Rebellion “ATM” is being tested at the Richmond Arms in West Ashling, Chichester, after landlord William Jack was inspired to try something “fun and vibrant.”

With a nifty touchscreen, hungry customers can order a handmade, “restaurant quality” pizza without interacting with a single person.

The machine is being trialled at The Richmond Arms in West Ashling, Chichester.

A mobile app is also being developed to allow customers to place their order from any location.

The unmanned machine has a robotic arm that takes pizzas from a refrigerated compartment and blasts it in a jet oven before serving it piping hot.

William, who also runs pizza restaurant Woodfired, said its convenient and flexible concept means it is a safe way of enjoying quality food during the coronavirus lockdown.

The machine produces restaurant-quality pizza in less than three minutes.

He said: “We’ve got to build a really strong product and that’s why we called it Pizza Rebellion because we are pulling way from everything else that’s out there and making something that is really fun and vibrant whilst also using really good ingredients.

“We make the pizzas, and we cook them 70 per cent and add the toppings. We pop the pizza into a box and it goes into a refrigerated compartment.

“It can sit there for 72 hours and you can order via an app so it is all Covid secure or it can be done via an interactive screen.

William is currently looking for more locations to trial the machine in Sussex.

“It’s a huge convenience. It’s 24/7 and it’s unmanned. If you’re coming on your train home from Brighton and you fancy a pizza, you can order it on the app so once you get there you can dispatch it with your code.”

William first became familiar with the concept whilst working in France, where there are over 1000 automated pizza machines in operation.

Alongside his business partner Mitch Dall, William researched the concept and brought the machine from a French company without ever seeing it first-hand.

He said: “We’ve got this machine up and running entirely in the Covid-19 era.

“We couldn’t go to France at all so we have done this whole thing completely blind and it’s a big old investment.”

The machine will be up and running at The Richmond Arms in the next ten days, before it moves to its permanent location in Portsmouth.

William said that more machines are on the way and that he is looking for locations in Sussex to install the machine.

For more information, visit https://www.pizzarebellion.com/