Else Labs

Else Labs Inc., operating from Ottawa, Canada, is a food-tech company focused on automating culinary processes through robotics. Founded in 2013 by Khalid Aboujassoum, Tariq Maksoud, and Abdulrahman Khamis, the company initially operated as Tahi Technologies Canada Inc. The venture began with the development of a smart countertop cooking robot for households called Oliver, which was later launched on the crowdfunding platform Indiegogo in 2020. Following interest from the commercial sector, Else Labs pivoted its strategy to address the needs of professional kitchens.

The company's flagship offering is the Oliver Fleet, a scalable system of autonomous cooking units designed for commercial use. This solution caters to a diverse client base, including restaurants, catering companies, ghost kitchens, healthcare facilities like retirement homes, and even remote operations such as offshore vessels. The business model centers on providing a comprehensive kitchen automation solution that includes the robotic units, a companion app for control and monitoring, a recipe library, and analytics. By automating tasks like dispensing ingredients, managing cooking temperatures, and stirring, the Oliver Fleet aims to ensure meal consistency, improve operational efficiency, and address labor shortages in the food service industry.

Each Oliver unit in the fleet is a compact, 16-inch diameter appliance designed to replicate stovetop cooking techniques such as sautéing, boiling, and braising. It features multiple canisters for holding prepped ingredients, which are then automatically dispensed and cooked according to pre-programmed recipes. This allows for a "set-it-and-forget-it" process, freeing up kitchen staff for other duties. The system is engineered to be more robust than its original consumer counterpart to withstand the demands of a commercial environment. The company holds several patents for its technology, which underpins the robot's ability to manage the entire cooking process without human intervention.

Keywords: food robotics, commercial kitchen automation, autonomous cooking, food tech, robotic chef, Oliver Fleet, restaurant technology, catering automation, ghost kitchen technology, food service robotics, smart kitchen appliances, automated cooking system, culinary robotics, hospitality technology, kitchen efficiency, professional cooking robot, food production automation, remote site catering, healthcare food service, meal consistency