California Pizza Kitchen and White Castle expand via automated retail

California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) has announced a partnership with T-ROC Global to deploy up to 1,000 automated retail machines across the United States over the next three years. These kiosks are intended for high-traffic locations where traditional restaurant footprints are impractical, such as airports, universities, hospitals, hotels, and EV charging stations. Utilizing Turbo-chef technology, the machines aim to deliver menu items like pizza in as little as 90 seconds.

In a separate move toward automated foodservice, White Castle is partnering with Murphy USA to install automated food units within select larger-format gas stations and convenience stores. This initiative seeks to provide hot food to customers in approximately two minutes as part of an evaluation of autonomous retail models.