Presto Pilots Drive-Thru Voice AI at Taco John’s

Rhea-AI Summary

Presto Automation (NASDAQ: PRST) has partnered with Taco John’s and Qu to pilot its Presto Voice AI in drive-thru operations at select Taco John’s restaurants. This AI technology enhances staff productivity, reduces labor costs, and improves guest experience by automating order-taking and offering customizable upsells. Initial deployment in Minnesota has shown positive results, leading to expansion to a second location in Wyoming by August. The integration with Qu's point-of-sale system ensures seamless data management and real-time order processing. If successful, Taco John’s plans to roll out Presto Voice to its franchised locations across 23 states.

Positive

• Presto Voice AI reduces labor costs by automating order-taking.
• Enhanced guest experience with 24/7 service and customizable upsells.
• Positive preliminary test results include improved speed of service and order accuracy.
• Increase in average ticket size due to upsell attachments.
• Seamless integration with Qu’s point-of-sale system ensures real-time order management.
• Expansion to a second location demonstrates confidence in pilot success.
• Potential nationwide rollout to nearly 400 Taco John’s locations could drive significant growth.

Negative

• Pilot phase indicates initial success but full rollout success remains unproven.
• Possible high implementation costs and technological challenges during nationwide rollout.
• Dependence on continuous collaboration with Qu for seamless integration.

Mexican-inspired fast food restaurant collaborates with Presto and Qu to optimize its drive-thru operations, revenue, and guest experience

SAN CARLOS, Calif., June 03, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Presto Automation Inc. (“Presto” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: PRST), one of the largest AI and automation technology providers to the restaurant industry, today announced that it has been collaborating with Taco John’s^® and Qu to implement a Presto Voice™ drive-thru pilot at select Taco John’s restaurants.

Presto Voice enhances the drive-thru staff’s productivity by reducing the time they devote to taking orders, allowing them to focus on more critical tasks and reducing associated labor costs. It also provides customizable upsells to increase revenue and improve the guest experience with immediate, friendly service around the clock.

Qu’s unified commerce platform delivers consistent data-driven experiences across all Taco John’s ordering channels and locations. Presto has seamlessly integrated its Voice AI solution with Qu’s point-of-sale and kitchen production technologies to enable automated voice orders to be quickly and accurately managed end-to-end within Taco John’s existing technology platform.

“Taco John’s and Qu have been exceptional partners for Presto because they understand that the technology behind Presto Voice can be seamlessly coupled with a restaurant’s existing technology stack to drive operational efficiencies and improve the guest experience,” said Gee Lefevre, Interim CEO at Presto.

Presto Voice’s initial Taco John’s pilot location in Minnesota went live in April 2024. As a result of its success, Presto and Taco John’s are rolling Presto Voice out to a second location in Taco John’s origin state, Wyoming, which is scheduled to go live before August.

“Preliminary test results have been very positive,” said Ryan Baune, Vice President for Technology at Taco John’s. “We are seeing improvements around speed of service, order accuracy, and an increase in average ticket size primarily driven by upsell attachment.”

“As Taco John’s looks to the future, Presto Voice is a natural fit to our technology roadmap. Presto and Qu’s development during this process has unlocked the ability for orders being taken by the Voice AI assistant to show up in real-time on the kitchen screens,” said Steve Smyth, Director of Restaurant Technology at Taco John’s.

“The technology allows our restaurants to focus on making the guest’s orders as they place them to help improve the speed of service and accuracy. Another benefit is not worrying about interrupting the guest at the pickup window to take an order for another guest; this helps to improve the personal interaction with the guest. We are excited about the future possibilities of Voice AI and feel that the best is yet to come.”

“Qu is designed from the ground up to support robust, bi-directional, AI-powered integrations, meeting the stringent speed and customer experience requirements necessary for a first-class voice AI solution like Presto Voice,” noted Brian Crum, VP of Product at Qu. “The pilot phase with Taco John's showcases how our collaborative efforts delivered an integrated and scalable solution. By enabling Voice AI natively within Qu’s unified commerce platform, we eliminate the need for bolt-on or redundant interfaces, seamlessly incorporating AI into the order-taking and making process. We are thrilled to see this development come to life, enabling Taco John's to leverage the benefits of AI in their restaurants."

Taco John’s operates and franchises nearly 400 restaurants in 23 states, making it one of America's largest and fastest-growing Mexican quick-service restaurant brands. After completing the pilot phase, Taco John’s intends to roll out Presto Voice to their franchised locations this year.

About Presto Automation
Presto (Nasdaq: PRST) provides enterprise-grade AI and automation solutions to the restaurant industry. Presto’s solutions are designed to decrease labor costs, improve staff productivity, increase revenue, and enhance the guest experience. Presto offers its AI solution, Presto Voice™, to quick-service restaurants (QSR) and has some of the most recognized restaurant names in the United States as its customers.

About Taco John’s
Founded in 1969 in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Taco John’s^® has been serving bigger. bolder. better. flavors for more than 55 years. Now, Taco John’s operates and franchises nearly 400 restaurants in 23 states – making it one of the largest Mexican quick-service restaurant brands in America. Taco John’s features signature specials like Taco Tuesday since 1989 and everyday value starting at $2, $3 and $4 on the ValuEST Menu. With bold originals like Potato Olés^®, Taco John’s knows how to Olé The Day. Taco John’s prides itself on serving generous portions of its signature menu items that are made-to-order using fresh, high-quality ingredients, seasoning, and sauces. The brand was listed on Entrepreneur’s “Top Food Franchises of 2023” under the “Mexican Food” category and was recently recognized by QSR Magazine as a “Top 15 Chain Ready to Contend as Fast Food’s Top Players.”

About Qu
Qu is evolving restaurant POS to create a truly connected restaurant experience for guests and operators at quick-service and fast-casual restaurants. Qu’s industry-leading, cloud-native Unified Commerce Platform fuses the ordering, operations, and guest engagement functions, delivering the real-time data needed to drive loyal, repeat guests. Based in Bethesda, MD, Qu is backed by leading restaurant entrepreneurs and investors including Cota Capital, Enlightened Hospitality Investments (EHI), Bobby Cox Companies, and NRD Capital. Visit www.qubeyond.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as “plan,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “outlook,” “estimate,” “forecast,” “project,” “continue,” “could,” “may,” “might,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “should,” “would” and other similar words and expressions, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking.

The forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions about future events and are based on currently available information as to the outcome and timing of future events. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release or as of the date they are made. Except as otherwise required by applicable law, Presto disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking statements, all of which are expressly qualified by the statements in this section, to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release. Presto cautions you that these forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of Presto. In addition, Presto cautions you that the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are subject to the following risks and uncertainties: whether the pilot of our new Spanish-voice ordering feature will be successful and enable further roll-out of this feature; our ability to manage our growth effectively, to sustain our recent revenue growth or attract new customers; the limited operating history with our new Voice products in a new and developing market; our ability to roll out new locations within a specified amount of time; our ability to achieve revenue growth while our expenses increase; continued adverse impacts from COVID-19 (including as a result of global supply chain shortages); the loss of any of our three largest customers or a reduction in their business with us; our ability to improve and enhance the functionality, performance, reliability, design, security, or scalability of our platform to respond to customers’ evolving needs; our ability to protect the security of our customers’ information; changing privacy laws, regulations and standards, and our ability to comply with contractual obligations and laws related to data privacy and security; unfavorable conditions in the restaurant industry or the global economy, including with respect to food, labor, and occupancy costs; the availability of capital or financing on acceptable terms, if at all; financial covenants and other restrictions on our actions contained in our financing agreements that may limit our operational flexibility; the length and unpredictability of our sales cycles and the amount of investments required in sales efforts; material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting and, our ability to remediate these deficiencies; our ability to continue as a going concern; our ability to receive additional financing in a timely manner; shortages, price increases, changes, delays or discontinuations of hardware; our ability to maintain relationships with our payment processors; our relies on computer hardware, licensed software and services rendered by third parties; U.S. laws and regulations (including with respect to payment transaction processing), many of which are unsettled and still developing, and our or our customers’ ability to comply with such laws and regulations; significant changes in U.S. and international trade policies that restrict imports or increase tariffs; any requirements to collect additional sales taxes or be subject to other tax liabilities that may increase the costs to our customers; our ability to adequately protect our intellectual property rights; claims by third parties of intellectual property infringement; our use of open-source software in our platform; and other economic, business, competitive and/or regulatory factors affecting Presto’s business generally as set forth in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact
investor@presto.com

Media:
prestopr@icrinc.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a49fc754-33bc-44fb-8b64-5bcb020c0fac

FAQ

What is Presto Voice AI?

Presto Voice AI is a technology used to automate order-taking in drive-thru settings, reducing labor costs and improving guest experience.

When did Presto start the pilot with Taco John's?

The pilot began in April 2024 at a Taco John’s location in Minnesota.

What are the benefits of Presto Voice AI for Taco John's?

Benefits include reduced labor costs, improved speed of service, order accuracy, and increased average ticket size due to upsell attachments.

What is the stock symbol for Presto?

The stock symbol for Presto is PRST.

Will Taco John's roll out Presto Voice to other locations?

If the pilot phase is successful, Taco John’s plans to roll out Presto Voice to their franchised locations across 23 states.

How does Presto Voice AI integrate with Taco John's existing systems?

Presto Voice AI integrates seamlessly with Qu's point-of-sale and kitchen production technologies for real-time order management.

What improvements have been observed from the Presto Voice AI pilot?

Improvements include faster service, better order accuracy, and higher average ticket sizes.

Where is the second Presto Voice AI pilot location for Taco John's?

The second pilot location is in Wyoming, scheduled to go live before August.