Fast Casual: Food Delivery Drones Are Coming to a Location Near You

It happened quietly, on a Monday, a couple of weeks ago. That's when the world's first FAA-approved drone food delivery took place in the desert, appropriately, like all things UFO-related. And the edible cargo was what some would probably refer to as "junk food" from the world's largest convenience retailer, 7-Eleven. Now the question is, just how long do we have before these autonomous flying delivery trucks fill our skies like a perpetual "day of the locusts"?

Drone delivery details
A 7-Eleven unit in Reno, Nevada, made the 1-mile delivery to a customer on July 11, with help from independent drone delivery service, Flirtey, in conjunction with the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems. The effort was part of advanced research toward integrating drones into the National Airspace System — a key element in their widespread usage, particularly for everyday things like food delivery, according to a company press release.

"This delivery required special flight planning, risk analysis and detailed flight procedures ensuring residential safety and privacy were equally integrated," NIAS Director of Operations Chris Walach said in the release.

In all, there were actually two deliveries successfully made from 7-Eleven that day, both included hot and cold food items loaded into the drone's delivery container and flown via GPS to a customer's house. It took mere minutes to load the cargo, fly to the destination and then gently lower the cargo in the family's backyard.

And what exactly was this historic delivery comprised of? Well, of course, some Slurpees, as well as hot coffee, doughnuts, a chicken sandwich and candy. No word on spillage or food temperature maintenance during the non-piloted pilot flights. But the customer, identified only as "Michael," couldn't have been happier with the whole endeavor.

"My wife and I both work and have three small children ages 7, 6 and 1. The convenience of having access to instant, 24/7 drone delivery is priceless," he is quoted as saying in a news release about the first flights. "It's amazing that a flying robot just delivered us food and drinks in a matter of minutes."

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