The World’s First Autonomous Micro-Factory Manufacturers Ice (Video)

Video Transcript

Supermarket company Southeastern Grocers Inc. announced it formed a partnership with Relocalize, a food micro-factory startup that leverages automation to shrink large-scale food production to a micro-scale.

The collaboration is intended to pilot-test ice manufacturing in the world’s first autonomous micro-factory. SEG recently unveiled its ice micro-factory at its Jacksonville, Florida, distribution center and cut a 200-pound ribbon made of ice with a chainsaw to celebrate. The micro-factories, or RELOs, are described as autonomous, hyperlocal, and networked food and beverage supply systems.

RELOs are managed by a software platform powered by artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics accounts for 100% of production labor. They can make, package, palletize, and warehouse — and can reportedly perform a traditional factory’s processes hyper-locally at about 1/20th scale.

According to SEG, its micro-factory would assist with eliminating middle-mile logistics and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, plastic pollution, and water waste through the ice product’s lifecycle. 

The launch of SEG’s micro-factory also presented Party Cubes, a hyper-local, no-plastic packaged ice made at the micro-factory that is available at two locations in Jacksonville. The company plans to expand the Party Cubes to the broader market.

SEG claims the Party Cubes are cheaper than bagged ice, yield zero water waste, and are 100% recycle-ready. Additionally, Relocalize said it would remove and recycle two pounds of ocean plastic for every pound of plastic used in its packaging. 

SEG CEO Anthony Hucker said the partnership "meets at the intersection of sustainability and innovation” and added that it would lead to better ice, packaging, and price.