DoorDash's push into robotically prepared food looks to be expanding. According to trademark applications filed this month, the company appears to be creating two virtual food brands that are meant to be prepared inside automated vending machines.
One experiment is already underway, a nachos-style menu dubbed Tex-Mess available in Dallas. The pilot comes a year after DoorDash purchased Chowbotics, the automated food vending machine maker.
The company told Insider that Tex-Mess is a test as DoorDash explores ways to help merchants grow by leveraging Chowbotics' automated vending technology.
DoorDash also filed a trademark application for Queso Your Way, another ghost brand prepared by robotic vending machines. DoorDash is also looking to trademark DashBotics by DoorDash and Dash2Go, signaling a potential rebrand of Chowbotics.
The nation's No. 1 food-delivery provider told Insider that DoorDash is "exploring options" for Chowbotics as it continues to integrate the tech further into the company.
Chowbotics prepares ready-to-eat meals in vending machines found in various US airports, universities, hospitals, and grocery stores. Its salad-making machine is called Sally.
"What excites us most about Chowbotics is the team has developed a remarkable tool that will allow DoorDash merchants to grow. As part of the DoorDash platform, this tool can help merchants expand their current menu offerings as well as reach new customers in new markets without investing in an entirely new store," DoorDash said when it bought Chowbotics last year.
An independent restaurant in Dallas, Granny's Cajun Cooking, is the only US location now selling Tex-Mess. According to its online menu, the chili-focused virtual brand features a variety of "loaded" nachos made with tater tots, waffle fries, or chips. The new brands were first reported on HNGRY, the food-tech newsletter written by Matt Newberg.
The other virtual brand, Queso Your Way, is described as "prepared entrees of dips, toppings, and sides," according to the trademark application filed February 1. DoorDash said Queso Your Way is not available to the public.
Chowbotics is part of DoorDash's newly revealed DoorDash Labs division, a department set up to try to automate parts of DoorDash's delivery business.
The DoorDash cofounder Stanley Tang and Harrison Shih, the director and head of product at DoorDash Labs, said in a November blog post that pursuing automation is a priority but as a way to "augment human networks, not replace them."
The move to expand its automation products comes as DoorDash pushes to offer new services that appeal to restaurants, retailers, and consumers.
Last week, the company introduced DoorDash Capital, a financing arm for eligible restaurant partners. The new division puts DoorDash in direct competition with Toast, which also finances loans through a bank partner to restaurants under its Toast Capital division.
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