If the Pizza ATM tickled your salivary glands when we shared word of its arrival in the U.S. last August, here’s some good news. A successful trial run at Cincinnati’s Xavier University (and the loads of media attention provided by sites like this one) have ignited a nationwide desire for automated machine pizza. WCPO Cincinnati reports that “colleges and businesses in 20 states and Canada have expressed interest in buying their own Pizza ATM.” According to Alec Verlin, Pizza ATM’s product representative, the first units could ship as early as this month.
Here’s a refresher on how it works: Before being loaded into the ATM, cooks prepare a vegan dough by letting it rise for two days before partially baking it. Meanwhile, a vegan tomato sauce is made in house. Eight varieties of toppings are sprinkled onto the crusts, which are then loaded into a refrigerator inside the ATM. After a pizza is ordered, the ATM transfers the uncooked pies to a convection oven set to roughly 425 degrees. When finished, it pops out in a cardboard box. The whole process is said to take approximately three minutes, which still might be too long for the belligerent freshmen smooshing its screen.
Though sales have cooled off since the initial rush, Xavier’s Pizza ATM says it maintains steady business, selling 30 to 35 pizzas a day. And Paline, the company who builds the units, is ready for what’s to come. According to its website, Paline is currently looking for U.S. distributors in addition to a U.S. manufacturer. There’s even a mandatory training program queued up at Xavier for all Pizza ATM operators.
They’re also expanding its product line. New specialty pizzas, including a chicken bacon ranch option, are on the docket, as well as pizzas that will be exclusive to the machine and unavailable in a school’s cafeteria.
Hot n’ Ready? Prepare to be usurped.