This is just the tail end optimizations (aka human effort reductions) that have been happening for a long time in the food business. Fast food in particular, b

This is just the tail end optimizations (aka human effort reductions) that have been happening for a long time in the food business. Fast food in particular, but even most "fast casual" places don't actually make the food in the sense of raw ingredients come in, finished dishes go out. What is delivered to each restaurant are prepackaged, pre portioned food "modules" that are then rapidly assembled: frozen hamburger patties, bags of precut flash frozen fries, bags of precut onions, etc. Which is wildly more efficient than handling everything in house. Similarly, Starbucks switched from barista's who needed some level of skill to the "Mastrena" machines which let you hit buttons to make drinks. 1 - http://www.businessinsider.com/the-company-behind-starbucks-espresso-2014-8 http://www.businessinsider.com/the-company-behind-starbucks-...