Robots offset staffing shortages at tech-savvy chain

Irvine-based Kura Sushi

USA Inc. (Nasdaq: KRUS) reported 2021 revenue of $33 million and has sights on annual revenue of $33.4 million for 2022.

The revolving sushi bar— not among the top 28 OC-based restaurant chains by sales, but No. 4 among OC-based publicly traded restaurant companies with a $315 million valuation as of last week—has been ushering in a new kind of in-store staff to help with staffing shortages— robot servers.

These “Kurabots” are a part of the restaurant’s workload initiatives, say officials for the company, which was long used automation as part of its branding.

As of April, Kura Sushi has added robots to 20 of its restaurants and expects full systemwide rollout by the end of the 2022 fiscal year.

“This response has been overwhelmingly positive, both in terms of the ability and fun that robot servers provide and the improvements to customer service resulting from the reduction of non-hospitality focused responsibilities for our front of house employees,” Chief Executive Hajime “Jimmy” Uba told analysts this month.

In its most recent earnings call, Uba addressed recent commodity inflation pointing out the chain’s ability to keep cost of goods flat due to a low amount of goods to purchase. With over 100 items necessary for its menu offerings, Kura Sushi’s top five purchases make up about 25% of the overall purchase, which keeps cost spikes less effective, according to Uba.

With guests self-managing their own small plates and orders at Kura Sushi locations, rates of consumer plate consumption are higher than three years ago despite pricing, Uba said.