Hanwha Foodtech Buys US Stella Pizza Robot Pizza Brand

Hanwha Foodtech, a food & beverage subsidiary of South Korea's Hanwha Group, has bought Stellar Pizza, a robot-powered mobile pizza brand based in the United States. The South Korean firm acquired as part of its efforts to drive technological advancement in the food service business.

Finalization of MOU

According to The Korea Herald, the company said on Monday, March 4, that Hanwha Foodtech Global, its US-based subsidiary unit, facilitated this acquisition deal. It was learned that this was also part of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by Hanhwa Foodtech and Stellar Pizza's parent company, Serve Automation, back in January.

The agreement was finalized late last week, but the exact value of the deal was not revealed to the public as of this time. The signed contract was for the transfer of Stellar Pizza's assets from Serve Automation to Hanhwa Foodtech.

Moreover, this agreement was said to have been pushed by the 34-year-old Kim Dong Seon, the youngest son of Kim Seung Youn, the chairman of the Hanhwa Group. Dong Seon is leading several businesses under the Hanhwa Group, including as the vice president of Hanhwa Galleria, Hanhwa Robotics, and Hanhwa Hotels & Resorts. He travels often to look for new growth opportunities in the food tech space.

Automated Pizza Service

Chosun Business reported that it only takes around five minutes to bake a 12-inch pizza with Stellar Pizza's robots. Thus, multiple orders can easily be made in succession.

Once the robot starts preparing the pizza, it can continue to make a new one every minute, so the waiting time for customers for a delicious pizza is short. The machine reduces the cooking time and lowers incidental costs such as labor costs.

"We will introduce the brand to the domestic and U.S. markets as soon as we complete system reorganization, including technological advancement," a Hanhwa Foodtech official said.

Photo by: Stellar Pizza Website