Good morning. As automation gains momentum in the food service industry, Mediterranean restaurant chain Cava—known for fan favorites like pita chips—is making its first major investment in the space.
Cava has invested $5 million in Hyphen—a foodservice platform that automates culinary operations such as meal production at assembly stations—and committed an additional $5 million, subject to terms. The $25 million funding round was also backed by Chipotle’s Cultivate Next venture fund, which previously invested $15 million in July 2024.
“We believe that technology should enhance the human experience, not replace it, and Hyphen’s equipment does just that,” Cava CFO Tricia Tolivar told me. After months of evaluating Hyphen and similar concepts, the company is confident this partnership is a smart move, she added.
Deloitte’s recent “State of AI in Restaurants” survey—based on interviews with 375 restaurant executives across 11 countries—found that 8 in 10 expect to increase their AI investments in the next fiscal year. Casual dining brands, in particular, prioritize benefits such as optimizing food preparation.
At Cava, Hyphen will be used on what Tolivar calls the “second-make line”—a back-of-house station where staff prepare all bowls and pitas for digital delivery and pickup. The system lets employees assemble a bowl or pita on the top level while automatically producing additional bowls below from the same ingredients, boosting speed and digital order accuracy, she said. “Most importantly, it’s really about making our team members’ lives easier,” Tolivar said. Cava is still testing the technology and expects to roll it out in a few months.
