Since 2020, Bolk has been busy developing a machine that could patch up collaborators with food distributors. After many months of research and development, Bolk offers companies a robotic canteencapable of preparing a wide choice of recipes in record time.
A calibrated offer
Bolk’s name is simple, taken from the contraction of two words: bol, and bulk (vrac in English). Its place in offices will be easy to find, the device occupying 2m3. A volume barely larger than a classic distributor. At Veepee, where Bolk has already installed one of its machines, employees can choose from 10 recipes, which change every week. They also have access to a second option allowing them to personalize their dish, from the base to the topping.
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” The challenge is to meet all business needs. For companies with 200 to 500 people, we position ourselves as a unique solution. Above 500 people, we come in addition to the canteen, in particular as a solution available 24 hours a day,” says Nicolas Jeanne, CEO and founder of Bolk, to Century Digital.
Quinoa, lentils, meat, cheese, carrots, potatoes, salad, sauces… The combinations are numerous and a product team tests new ingredients every week in order to develop other recipes. Bolk already offers 300 hot, cold, savory and sweet dishes, served in 45 seconds, all for an average of €7. A selling price that is of particular importance to the entrepreneur. ” Eating well, at least in Paris, can cost between twelve and fourteen euros per meal. (…) There is a minority of people who eat well, and for me, the difference is in the price. “.
A bowl of chicken satay prepared by Bolk’s robotic canteen. Photography: Bolk.
Aware that the price is not everything, the company also wants to be accessible in the use of its robotic canteen. When apps like Deliveroo or Uber Eats make junk food more expensive, but just a click away, it was important for him to offer a fast, simple, and inexpensive alternative.
Neat robotics
The use may be simple on the outside, but inside, the robotics is the result of three years of research and development. ” We are at the third industrialized version, (…) with patent filings on all continents continues the founder. Hardware, software, electronics, everything goes for the team of 15 engineers, led by Ludovic Houchu, CTO of Bolk, formerly head of development of Pepper and Nao robots at Softbank Robotics.
After three versions, Bolk’s latest model is the “near-definitive” version. Photography: Bolk.
Together, the engineers had to respond to both technical and health constraints. For example, combining a three-degree refrigerator part – maintaining the cold chain requires – with an electrical component part – sensitive to humidity – in a small space.
Another difficulty to deal with lies in the flow of food. They don’t all have the same consistency, the same volume, or even the same ageing, ” the complexity is that these ingredients must all come out the same way in the bowl. We are, for the moment, the only ones in the world to achieve this. »
The functioning of the Bolk robot is also based on a large software part, “ it’s the tip of the iceberg “. Thanks to around thirty sensors, all the robotic canteens send data back to the company: stocks, orders, temperatures, etc.
The Bolk model
If tech is the most obvious activity, Bolk is also surfing on another profession, that of catering, “ We have our kitchens, our deliverers, and our cooks “. In order to have longer use-by dates (DLC), the company is responsible for preparing all the ingredients in its kitchens. ” All our products are validated by a hygiene audit firm “assures the CEO of Bolk. This organization allows it to supply its customers between 2 and 4 times a week.
The company thus benefits from two lines of income. The first is the monthly flat rate paid by a company to have one or more machines at home. It takes into account installation, refueling, maintenance, etc. Meals and drinks paid for by employees make up the second line of revenue.
By controlling its entire value chain, the company benefits from an unprecedented economic model. ” If you eat Bolk, I know how much you paid, and I know exactly how much it cost me. In catering, it’s a small revolution. »
After a discreet development in several scale-ups, but also in the offices of large groups, the company is now gaining visibility. Nicolas Jeanne recognizes a real attraction, and an optimal timing. ” The arrival of teleworking has called into question many traditional collective catering models “. With installations every month since the beginning of the year, ” The objective for the end of the year is to put around forty Bolks in Paris and the Paris region “.
Photography: Bolk.
In the coming weeks, the young shoot should announce a new fundraiser. It will allow it to develop in the rest of France, and why not outside of offices. ” There are other verticals to address », in particular the hotel industry, trade fairs, service stations, but also hospitals or universities.
Bolk’s robotic canteen is now in an almost final version, its engineers are beginning to imagine other new solutions with the same goal: to offer good products at an affordable price. This is the goal of other companies like Cala which offers a fully robotized pasta restaurant. For Nicolas Jeanne, “ the old economic models of food did not necessarily allow people to eat better. If robotics is not an end, it makes it possible to control its value chain and its costs much better, and to put this value back in the dish.. »