The Kitchen of the Future is Here: Picnic Works™ and ContekPro Partner to Deliver the First Modular Automated Pizza Kitchen

Two innovative Northwest startups work together to make foodservice more profitable by reimagining how commercial pizza kitchens are manufactured and run with robotic automation

SEATTLE and PORTLAND,Ore, Nov. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Picnic Works, a Seattle-based developer of kitchen automation technology, today announced a partnership with ContekPro, a Portland-based manufacturer of modular kitchens. The partnership fuses the strengths of both companies to create factory-built pizza kitchens for commercial foodservice providers. The joint offering is faster to deploy, hassle-free to launch, more cost-efficient than brick and mortar, and has less impact on the environment, while increasing profitability for owners.

The partnership provides customers a turnkey solution to deploy and install a professional and custom pizza kitchen. The factory-assembled kitchens use the latest in energy-saving modular construction techniques and allow operators to customize based on their needs. ContekPro will manufacture kitchens with an integrated Picnic Pizza Station that uses robotic automation to assemble up to 100 pizzas per hour with just one member of the kitchen's staff. The partnership allows foodservice operators a way to build kitchens quickly and save time, money, and labor. 

"Kitchen innovation can help increase profits, reduce waste and operating costs, and improve guest satisfaction," said Scott Erickson, CMO of Picnic. "Picnic and ContekPro share a vision of innovating for the future of foodservice. Combining the quickly built modular kitchens with the Picnic Pizza Station, a new restaurant can be opened 50% faster than before. This means ghost kitchens, sports and event venues, and QSRs can be up and running in record time and saving money from day one."

"ContekPro provides an alternative to traditional brick and mortar kitchens. The foodservice industry is changing, customer demands are evolving, and we entered a new construction era after the pandemic. We manufacture turnkey products that embrace modern operators and offer cost-effective and environmentally-sound options," said Reda Attahri, Co-founder of ContekPro. "The partnership with Picnic is a way to offer ready-to-use, end-to-end, high quality pizza concepts to ghost kitchens, stadiums, QSRs, amusement centers, or any location where speed to market, scalability, and profitability are important."

The Picnic Pizza Station assembles pizzas autonomously and is completely customizable for each order–after a cook loads the dough, the Picnic station takes care of applying the sauce, cheese, fresh-cut pepperoni, and additional toppings. The finished pizzas can then move into the kitchen's ovens for cooking. Each hour, the Picnic station can assemble up to 100 pizzas with 80% less food waste than traditional makelines. The Picnic technology allows for integration with a kitchen's point-of-sale (POS) equipment and mobile ordering platforms. The Picnic Pizza Station is NSF and ETL/UL certified and is supported with cloud-based software and over-the-air firmware updates. The customer roster for the Picnic Pizza Station includes managed foodservice providers Compass, Chartwells, and Sodexo Live!, Domino's Pizza Enterprises, Texas A&M University, The Ohio State University, SeaWorld, and numerous regional pizzerias with new customers coming online weekly.

ContekPro uses leading-edge software and proprietary applications to run efficient and sustainable manufacturing operations. The modular kitchens are designed and manufactured in the U.S. ContekPro focuses on predictable scheduling, transparent processes, and cost accuracies while producing kitchens 50% faster than traditional construction methods. The company uses environmentally conscious manufacturing methods in a controlled environment to help reduce carbon footprint, construction, and water waste with every unit. With more than 150 projects deployed to customers in the U.S., the Caribbean, and Africa, the list of ContekPro customers includes SeaWorld, Boyne Resorts, Discovery Land, Providence Health & Services, the US Army, and Fluor construction. 

The partnership between Picnic and ContekPro marks a smart, customer-focused turnkey solution for restaurateurs and food entrepreneurs who want to open or expand a pizza business with speed and ease. The companies provide a lower carbon footprint offering from production through operation, an effective way to start up or enhance a pizza kitchen, and an innovative approach to kitchen operations. The future of the pizza kitchen has arrived.

For information on Picnic Pizza Stations, see picnicworks.com and for ContekPro modular kitchens, visit contekpro.com.

Founded in 2016, Picnic Works has collected an experienced team of food and technology industry veterans to develop and provide specialized intelligent technology and exclusive solutions for the foodservice and hospitality industries. Restaurants, convenient and grocery stores, university and corporate campuses, casinos, hotels, cruise lines, sports venues, catering groups, healthcare cafeterias, small kiosks, ghost kitchen operators, mobile food operations, food trucks, delivery, and military sites are among the many segments poised to benefit from the company's automated food assembly platform integrating RaaS, software, cloud, and deep learning technology.

Find Picnic online at picnicworks.com or on social media at facebook.com/picnicworks, linkedin.com/company/picnicworks, twitter.com/picnicnews, and instagram.com/picnicnews.

ContekPro was founded in Portland, Oregon in 2016 with the vision to build the future of foodservice by revolutionizing the way commercial kitchens are constructed. The ContekPro factory-built kitchens offer a modular, turnkey, fast-to-deploy, cost-efficient, and sustainable alternative to traditional brick and mortar kitchens. ContekPro has manufactured and deployed over 150 modular kitchens and support units throughout the US, the Caribbean, and Africa. The kitchens are used by hotels, resorts, quick service restaurants, ghost kitchens, and military customers.

Find ContekPro online at contekpro.com or on social media at www.facebook.com/ContekPro-107964410928913, www.linkedin.com/company/contekpro/, www.instagram.com/contekpro_kitchens/  

Picnic Media Inquiries: 
Julie Fogerson or Aaron Blank, Fearey 
[email protected] 
(206) 343-1543 

Picnic Sales Inquiries: 
Andrew Lambert, VP of Business Development 
[email protected] 

ContekPro Sales and Media Inquiries: 
Reda Attahri, Co-founder 
[email protected] 

SOURCE Picnic Works™