Will the kebab robot invade our high streets?

Doner kebabs have been sliced by hand from rotating spits for centuries. Now, technology could change the Saturday-night staple forever

For years, the Super Kebab takeaway in north London has – like all kebab shops employed a man with a big knife to slice doner meat off of a rotating skewer. Despite its award-winning pedigree – it was named the best takeaway in London earlier this year – manual kebab slicing has been given the elbow, supplanted by a futuristic robot arm. The Atalay doner robot, which, guided by sensors, glides up and down the tower of meat, slicing off perfect cuts of lamb to be stuffed into a pitta bread (salad remains optional).

The unusual piece of equipment – the first to be installed in a UK kebab shop, according to owner/manager Hakan Gorenli – had been shipped over from Turkey – a nation that knows its kebabs – and costs around £5,000. Gorenli says that he is pleased with his investment, adding: “I like it and am very happy with it.” He also thinks other kebab shops will follow his lead. If he is right then Atalay, the Turkish company that makes the equipment could be in for a windfall – research by the British Kebab Awards estimates that a total of 1.3m kebabs are sold across Britain every day by around 17,000 shops.

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