- Chick-fil-A began testing drone deliveries in Texas and North Carolina last year.
- Last week, the network expanded its test of drone services to Florida.
- Retailers and restaurants testing drone services include Walmart, Amazon and Jersey Mike’s.
Chick-fil-A is stepping up its drone delivery experiment with food drops in Florida.
The chain, known for its busy drive-thru lanes, began testing drone deliveries in Brandon, Florida, last week, according to the restaurant. social media pages.
Chick-fil-A restaurants in Granbury, Texas, and Durham, North Carolina, are testing drone deliveries starting in September 2022.
“Chick-fil-A is always looking for new ways to provide the best experience for our guests. We are in the early stages of testing drone deliveries in a small number of Chick-fil-A restaurants,” the network told Business Insider on Monday.
In Florida, customers in a restaurant’s drone drop zone can order drone delivery through the Chick-fil-A app. The food is delivered in a cardboard box and delivered to the yards. The drone never lands. It floats above the yard and lowers the food down using a wire.
According to a behind-the-scenes video posted on Instagram, the network is partnering with DroneUp, a Virginia Beach, Virginia-based drone company that also works with Walmart.
Drone delivery is still experimental in the US, but is proving popular with leading retailers and restaurant chains.
Flytrex, a Tel Aviv-based ultra-fast drone delivery company that operates throughout the United States, told Business Insider that it has been working with Chick-fil-A restaurants in Texas and North Carolina since September 2022. The company also provides drone services to Walmart, Raising Cane’s, Papa Johns, Jersey Mike’s Subs, Unilever’s The Ice Cream Shop, Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers, Little Caesars, Starbucks and Chili’s.
He previously tested drone delivery with Southern California fast food chain El Pollo Loco.
Amazon is also testing drone delivery in California and Texas.
Chick-fil-A and its franchisees have been testing autonomous technologies to improve operations for more than a year.
The network was launched in May 2022 testing autonomous delivery robots in a limited number of restaurants in California, Texas and Florida. This fall, a Texas restaurant began using a robot called Wall-E to deliver food to customers.
Are you a Chick-fil-A connoisseur and can you share your thoughts? Got a tip? Contact this reporter via email at nluna@insider.com.
