Elior provides student catering at the University of Roehampton’s campus restaurants and noticed that many preferred the ease and convenience of ordering takeaways directly to their halls of residence.

Elior devised a way to utilise innovative technology to deliver meals to students across campus. In partnership with GW Projects, Elior has introduced the Roehampton robot. The delivery robot is fully autonomous, meaning it can deliver to students without human interference and travel across all terrains and even roads. The built-in AI technology allows it to learn the best routes across campus and store that information for the next delivery, guaranteeing a quick delivery time.

Students can order food through Elior’s BREAZ app to be delivered to their dorm rooms, the catering teams can then put the order into the robot, and it will drive itself to the predetermined location. Students are notified of the robot's arrival and then input a one-time code into the robot to release their order.

Craig Stewart, divisional manager director from Elior said: “We are excited to be introducing new technologies to our partnership with the University of Roehampton with autonomous robotics for deliveries. The new robot can deliver both food and retail items to students and academic staff across the large campus, with great levels of success. We look forward to further developing this use of new technology across the campus and continuing to support students and staff with healthy, fulfilling meals.”

Mike Hall, director of campus operations and CIO from the University of Roehampton said: “When the Elior team brought robots to the table, we were all for the new ideas and creativity. Since its integration, the students have been extremely receptive to the new technology and have been enjoying the delivery service along with the ease of access to campus food options. Elior delivers an innovative service provision on a daily basis.”

The contract with the University of Roehampton includes four cafes, four restaurants, one mini market and one union bar. Other elements of the partnership include the transformation of food waste and disposables into liquid fertilizer through the use of a bio-digester that is used across the university grounds, creating a sustainable option for waste.