DQ robot: Key takeaways
- DQ’s Shanghai robot makes a Blizzard in around six minutes — twice as long as a human
- Sharpa says the robot completes 55 steps autonomously using existing store equipment
- The robot’s appeal is marketing: drawing attention to DQ’s expanding Blizzard & Burgers format.
DQ’s (DQ冰雪皇后) latest hire is slow. Its robotic hands takes around six minutes to make the company’s signature Blizard. That’s about twice as long as a human being. DQ robot worker No. 001 (DQ 001号机器打工人) does, however, offer Dairy Queen something human hands can’t.
The latest hire works out of the DQ Blizzard & Burgers restaurant on Wujiang Road alongside a team of human staff, but these humans don’t have company Rednote accounts. Nor do customers queue to snap photographs of them.
Robot Worker No. 001 is there to draw the crowds, and there is good reason for crowds to gather. Putting this robot to work didn’t require any store adaptation on DQ’s part. That makes this Dairy Queen – according to the company – the world’s first ‘zero-renovation, fully autonomous’ robot restaurant.
Robot Worker No. 001 is there to draw the crowds, and there is good reason for crowds to gather
Sharpa, the company behind the bot, says it completes 55 steps autonomously using DQ’s existing equipment and processes. It can even manage the Blizard’s theatrical moment, flipping the cup upside down.
DQ has given that flourish a sporting treatment in its campaign film where sports commentary turns dessert preparation into a football game. The cup flip is presented as an overhead kick, crowds go wild, the robot gets its highlight reel. And highlight reels are what this new employee is all about.
The Dao view: DQ’s robot is pure spectacle
It’s worth noting the restaurant this robot’s been hired to. Blizzard & Burgers is part of DQ and operator CFB’s push into markets beyond ice cream. The partners previously announced plans for 180 such restaurants in China by 2034. The robot draws customers that may well go on to discover the wider menu, even if it’s not yet flipping burgers.
The robot draws customers that may well go on to discover the wider menu, even if it’s not yet flipping burgers
Adding robotic staff is a move being played out across many markets in China. They are nearly always in customer-facing roles. So far, they offer only marginal advances on human employees, if any. But they are fantastic for generating attention, hence why DQ is happy for one to make Blizards at half speed while it splashes its career progression across socials.
