The automated infinite bowl technology, which Wonder acquired from salad chain Sweetgreen, spins each bowl on a turntable while ingredients drop into place, based on the specs from an online delivery app order. The resulting bowl, said Lore, has “no errors,” so a hungry patron gets exactly what they ordered. Lore said Sweetgreen already runs the infinite bowl tech across 32 locations, and it will land in its first Wonder kitchen next month.
With everything included in a single profit pool, Lore claims, the prices are less expensive because the margins don’t need to support both restaurants and delivery companies. A single 10-ounce Bobby Flay steak “cooked to perfection” costs $36 and bowls are under $10, he said.
“We can stay open until 2 a.m. in the suburbs because we can operate all 26 restaurants with three people late night,” Lore added. One human staffer answers the hotline, another handles finishing the dishes, and the third works the handoff to delivery drivers.
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Lore wants this business to have an indelible impact on the public company landscape and is pursuing an IPO, something that has eluded him, he told “The Aisle” founder Jason Del Rey.
“We are going to be ready to go public early next year,” said Lore, although the market will likely help dictate the timing of a potential public offering.
Lore, who also owns the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx basketball teams, said he wants to builds a “long-standing, legacy business that becomes a household name” with Wonder, and he said it has a competitive moat that AI can’t disrupt. And more machines are on the way. An “infinite sauce machine” can spin up 500 sauces an hour from 152 raw ingredients, said Lore, and an “infinite beverage machine” is slated for next year.
From there, Lore said he expects that some people will want to start their own delivery-based restaurants using Wonder. Through a feature he called Wonder Create, Lore said anyone can describe a concept in an AI prompt like, “build me a fast-casual Mexican restaurant for Gen Z, for people that love cycling.” From there, Wonder will output a branded restaurant concept, with its own name, menu, pricing, photos and nutrition information, built on Wonder’s automation in about two minutes. Lore said users can push their concepts live for $10 a month.
