There’s an argument to be made that shit is getting just a little too convenient. Today, it’s fast food delivered to your doorstep almost instantaneously. Tomorrow, we’re those couch-bound units from Wall-E. It certainly doesn’t help that KFC Australia is now using delivery drones to drop off those dirty fixes of even dirtier birds.
Partnered with the Alphabet subsidiary known as Wing, the pilot program has already been launched in Queensland – namely the Southeastern suburbs of Logan Central, Kingston, Underwood, Slacks Creek, and Woodridge. The domestic branch of the Colonel’s network has confirmed it plans to expand this service to nearby locations, potentially beyond.
“Drone delivery is an amazing technology and something we see becoming more accessible in the future, so we’re thrilled to have partnered with Wing,” says Kristi Woolrych, Chief Marketing Officer of KFC Australia.
“It’s an interesting space to be in, and we’re excited to see what lies ahead. We’re looking to target customers that want convenience and the capabilities of this service truly showcase the future of delivery.”
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Once an order is placed via the Wing delivery app, it’ll be prepared at a KFC kitchen, then picked up from the designated Wing Australia site by drones, before cruising away at speeds of up to 110 km/h. The drone will hover above its destination and lower the payload using a tether, which automatically releases it to the ground in a safe manner (all without ever having to land).
According to Wing themselves, the proprietary drone software performs and analyses 15 million simulations each day to detect changes in both weather and terrain, stress test the delivery systems, as well as “continually improve the routing” to customise optimal pathways to reach customers.
“We’re excited to be teaming up with KFC to expand their delivery options for customers by taking its customer favourites to new heights, through the skies of Logan, Queensland – the drone delivery capital of the world,” says Dave Ojako-Pettit, City Manager of Wing Queensland.
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“We’ve seen a significant increase in use of our on-demand drone delivery service in South East Queensland… with many customers finding on-demand drone delivery especially useful as they stayed home and relied on our contactless service to deliver the things they needed.”
“We’ve seen customers receive their food at their homes in mere minutes from placing their order via the Wing app, which is amazing,” adds Woolrych.
“Getting up off the couch to whip up a snack could take longer. Significantly less than traditional delivery.”
“You know the future truly is here when you can get hot fresh Kentucky Fried Chicken delivered by a drone from the click of a few buttons.”
Dangerous. Very dangerous.
