Insider Brief
- Chef Robotics and ILPRA formed a partnership to deliver an end-to-end, AI-enabled automation solution for meal assembly and packaging across fresh and frozen RTE/RTH lines.
- The integrated offering combines Chef’s robots (portioning/depositing for high-mix SKUs) with ILPRA’s tray sealers and packaging systems to handle frequent changeovers, boost throughput, and improve consistency in cold-room production.
- Chef reports 70M+ servings assembled in North America and ILPRA brings 70+ years of packaging expertise, positioning the joint solution to reduce labor bottlenecks, cut giveaway, and raise line efficiency.
PRESS RELEASE – Chef Robotics, a leader in AI-enabled robotic meal assembly, and ILPRA, a global innovator in packaging technology, are partnering to provide food manufacturers with a flexible, end-to-end automation solution for meal assembly and packaging.
Food manufacturers are facing growing pressure to meet demand while maintaining consistency, safety, and efficiency on their production lines. Labor shortages and repetitive, manual tasks make it increasingly difficult to sustain high throughput without sacrificing quality or profitability. These challenges are especially acute in meal assembly and packaging, where precision and flexibility are essential but difficult to scale, especially in the cold rooms where production tends to occur and labor shortages are omnipresent.
Chef and ILPRA’s joint solution addresses these challenges with flexible, AI-enabled robotics and advanced packaging systems that adapt to hundreds of stock-keeping units (SKUs) and high-mix production lines with frequent changeovers. Chef’s meal assembly robots have completed over 70 million servings for customers across North America, automating repetitive processes with accuracy and speed. ILPRA brings over 70 years of expertise in custom packaging systems, including tray sealers, form-fill-seal, and other tailored solutions for a wide range of food products.
Together, both companies enable food manufacturers to automate more of their production process for fresh and frozen ready-to-eat (RTE) and ready-to-heat (RTH) meals. Chef robots automate meal assembly by portioning and depositing different food ingredients into trays, while ILPRA tray sealers package the meals.
“This partnership combines Chef’s AI focus and flexibility with ILPRA’s packaging expertise to help food manufacturers automate more of their production process,” said Rajat Bhageria, Founder and CEO of Chef Robotics. “Together, we can help our customers increase worker productivity, maximize throughput, and reduce giveaway—all while maintaining the consistency consumers expect.”
“We’re excited to collaborate with Chef Robotics and offer a truly end-to-end automation solution,” said Mike Cheatle, Vice President at ILPRA America. “Our shared vision is to make food production more efficient, reliable, and scalable without compromising quality.”
The joint solution is now available to food manufacturers in the U.S. and Canada. To see a Chef robot and an ILPRA tray sealer serve real ingredients, stop by the ILPRA booth (#1709) at the EATS trade show in Chicago from October 28-30, 2025.
Image credit: Chef Robotics
