Cooking Robots Deployed in Gangnam School Cafeterias... Work Intensity for Cooks Reduced by 31%

Four-Month Pilot at Three Schools
Ultrafine Dust Exposure Reduced by 28.6%

Seoul’s Gangnam District (District Mayor Cho Sungmyung) announced that the pilot introduction of cooking robots in school cafeterias led to an average 31% reduction in the work intensity of cafeteria staff.

A meal preparation robot that performs frying. Provided by Gangnam-gu.

The district stated on January 28 that this effect was confirmed through a pilot project conducted from September to December last year at three schools: Seoul Gaeil Elementary School, Gaewon Middle School, and Seoul Robot High School.

The cooking robot consists of a robotic arm, a control PC, and a pot. With the PC, functions such as turning on the heat and adding or removing water can be operated remotely, so cooks no longer have to perform repetitive tasks in front of hot pots. The robot can prepare soups, stews, fried, and stir-fried dishes.

In particular, this robot is designed to use the gas and steam pots already installed in schools. Previous cooking robots were electric, making them difficult to introduce in school cafeterias.

Over four months, the three schools used the cooking robots for 199 out of 251 days (79%). Seoul Robot High School, a boarding school, recorded a utilization rate of 97%.

The cooks also reported significant benefits. Previously, preparing fried dishes for 450 servings (2 hours) required standing in front of a hot pot, but after the robots were introduced, cooks could work farther from the pots, resulting in a 28.6% reduction in exposure to ultrafine dust. Musculoskeletal risk assessments, which indicate strain on the back and arms, improved from “Level 2 (Risk)” to “Level 0 (Safe).”

In a satisfaction survey, cafeteria staff gave a score of 80 out of 100. The cooks responded that the robots were most helpful when preparing stir-fried dishes (56.3%).

The district plans to continue operating the cooking robots at the three schools and improve their performance through 2028.

Cho Sungmyung, Mayor of Gangnam District, said, “The key achievement of this pilot project is that it simultaneously improves safety and reduces labor burdens in school meal settings,” adding, “We will support expanding the use of these robots to other schools by enhancing user convenience.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.