BACK-OF-HOUSE TECH
T The restaurant kitchen is undergoing dra- matic transformation as operators — faced with persistent labor shortages, rising food costs, and razor-thin margins — turn to technology to optimize back-of-house operations. Amid rising food and labor costs, the back-of-house has become ground zero for operational innovation, and oper- ators are increasingly turning their focus toward tools that may be invisible to the customer but no doubt impact the consistency and quality of the hospitality they receive. There is no shortage of new tools reshaping oper- ations, including kitchen robotics and automation, AI-driven demand forecasting and inventory opti- mization, smart cooking equipment with precision controls, labor management tools, and integrated kitchen management platforms. As operators face growing pressure to demonstrate ROI of their technology investments, back-of-house tech that can demonstrate measurable impact on food costs, waste, labor hours, throughput, and more, are gaining traction.
67+33 33%
33% of operators plan to invest in technology to support back of house operators this year
Nearly six in 10 operators say the primary benefit of AI is saving money and time through streamlined operations
CHART-COLUMN
61 %
51 %
50 %
say automated inventory management is the AI use case with the greatest ROI
are interested in implementing AI for menu/pricing strategy
of operators say forecasting traffic and sales is a top use case for AI
Source: Nation’s Restaurant News / Restaurant Business research
18 | FSTEC 2026
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