case study

Consumer Electronics Show
‍The Picnic Pizza Station Helps Centerplate Steal the Show

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is known as the global stage for innovation. Picnic had a lot to prove going into CES 2020 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. With CES attracting over 175,000 attendees, Centerplate, a Picnic client, had a lot of mouths to feed.

However, the Picnic challenge was twofold. First, satisfy the need to quickly make high volumes of quality pizza. Second, wow this audience of consumer technologists and the media covering the show.
The Need for Speed
Centerplate has received numerous national and international awards validating its achievements in providing people with extraordinary experiences and thoughtful hospitality. They are known for being on top of the latest trends in the culinary world.

In the case of CES, Centerplate wanted to up their game to create well-made pizzas as quickly as possible. They wanted to combine their recipe, dough, and ingredients with the Picnic Pizza Station's unmatched speed and assembly quality to help keep convention goers happily fed and on the convention floor, rather than standing in line for food.
One Person, One Station, Pizza for All

Like many convention space kitchens, Centerplate was catering in a large venue with a high demand. If they were going to add any equipment to their space—in the kitchen or on the show floor—it needed to be flexible, mobile, and have a small footprint. The Picnic Pizza Station hits all those points.

From Geekwire to CNET, Food on Demand to Franchise Times, decidedly positive reports about the Picnic Pizza Station began rolling in.

CNET reporter Katie Collins “made a beeline to the Picnic booth” to see the station in action. She watched the different attached modules perform pizza assembly line work and reported the station recognizing the dough immediately, tomato sauce flowed, and real mozzarella was “flying out of a chute.” Also, she described the fresh pepperoni as “little frisbees [flopping] onto the cheese in a satisfyingly neat pattern.”
Even better, she did a pizza taste test across Las Vegas which included Centerplate pizza and said, “The Picnic CES pizza slice isn't just great for a convention center, it would be considered delicious anywhere.”

Reports from the show floor

1000s

Fed

400%

Demand

<1%

Food Waste
About Picnic
Picnic is transforming the future of food prep through reliable and thoughtful automation. We’re a fast-growing company based in Seattle. Since 2016, our engineers, designers, food scientists, and trailblazers have been working to answer the needs of the food service industry. By automating food preparation, we save kitchens time, money, and, labor so you can spend it on elevating your customer experience.