## Summary of "Bananas, champagne, and robots: Why automation still needs humans" This news report from **The Next Web**, authored by **Andrea Hak**, discusses the evolving role of robots and automation in the modern workforce, using **Picnic Technologies**, a Netherlands-based online supermarket, as a primary case study. The article highlights the symbiotic relationship between humans and robots, emphasizing that automation is augmenting rather than replacing human capabilities. ### Key Findings and Conclusions: * **Robots are augmenting human work, not replacing it:** While humanoid robots are still in their early stages of development (as evidenced by the "Robot Humanoid Games" in China), automation is already revolutionizing industries like online grocery shopping. Picnic Technologies utilizes robots to enhance efficiency, but humans remain crucial for tasks requiring adaptability, creativity, and judgment. * **Human-robot collaboration is the future:** The core message is that the future of work is not about humans versus robots, but "humans with robots." Automation excels at repetitive, structured tasks, while humans are superior in areas requiring improvisation and nuanced decision-making. * **AI is reinventing management, not eliminating it:** According to Picnic's CTO, Daniel Gebler, AI will likely transform management roles, making ownership and individual contribution more critical. This shift empowers teams with greater autonomy and fosters experimentation. ### Key Statistics and Metrics: * **Picnic's Oberhausen, Germany fulfillment center:** * Processes up to **33,000 online orders per day**. * Serves up to **200,000 households**. * Employs **1,500 robots** and **1,000 humans**. ### Critical Information and Examples: * **Picnic's Automation Strategy:** * Robotic arms automate the item picking process in their fulfillment centers, reducing the physical strain on human "shoppers." * **Product whitelisting** is used to determine which orders robots can fulfill, excluding items that are irregularly shaped, fragile (like eggs), or high-value (like champagne bottles), or orders containing a mix of items unsuitable for robots (e.g., bags of crisps and heavy soda bottles). * Humans are still responsible for the final step of packing items into customer delivery boxes. * **Reasons why humans are still essential:** * **Handling irregularly shaped or fragile items:** Robots struggle with items like bananas, eggs, or champagne bottles. * **Packing efficiency:** Humans can rearrange crates to maximize space, a task robots find difficult without predefined layouts. Robots also struggle with opening boxes. * **Final touches:** The last step of packing orders into delivery boxes is still performed by humans. * **Innovations driven by human autonomy at Picnic:** * **Return deliveries:** Customers can return items from other brands using Picnic's delivery vans, improving fleet efficiency. * **Curated meal packages:** Offering pre-selected meal kits benefits families more than individual product selection. * **"AI-free Fridays" initiative:** Picnic encourages dedicated time for developers to work without AI tools, sharpening their human skills and fostering improvisation. ### Notable Trends and Changes: * **Shift in warehouse operations:** Automation is transforming warehouse operations by taking over repetitive picking tasks. * **Evolution of management:** AI is expected to redefine management roles, emphasizing individual contribution and ownership. * **Focus on human skills:** There is a growing recognition of the importance of human skills like adaptability, creativity, and judgment in the age of automation. ### Material Financial Data: * No specific financial data or figures related to revenue, profit, or investment were provided in this article. ### News Metadata: * **News Title:** Bananas, champagne, and robots: Why automation still needs humans * **News Type:** Technology / Robotics / Automation * **Report Provider:** The Next Web * **Author:** Andrea Hak * **Publication Date:** August 27, 2025, 09:55:44 UTC * **Relevant News Identifiers:** The article is part of "Kia's Next Big Drive" series, featuring an interview with Daniel Gebler, CTO of Picnic Technologies, en route to TNW2025.
Bananas, champagne, and robots: Why automation still needs humans
Read original at The Next Web →Watching robots awkwardly flop around, cause robot body pile-ups on the soccer field, and accidentally lose their heads while taking part in a 1500-metre sprint at the first Robot Humanoid Games in China was not only entertaining, it was a reminder of just how far robotics has come — and how far it still has to go.
While humanoid robots still struggle to walk across a stage, in other corners of the world automation is quietly revolutionising industries. At Picnic Technologies, the Netherlands’ fastest growing online supermarket, robots are compiling your grocery orders so delivery ‘shoppers’ can get them from the warehouse to your refrigerator as fast as possible.
It’s these innovations that have helped the once humble startup scale rapidly to compete with supermarket behemoths like Albert Heijn. The company’s CTO, Daniel Gebler, recently shared the secrets behind the company’s success with TNW founder, Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, as they drove through the streets of Amsterdam in the latest episode of “Kia’s Next Big Drive.
”Check out the full interview — recorded en route to TNW2025 in Kia’s all-electric EV9 — by clicking on the image below:Caption: Gebler and Veldhuijzen van Zanten winding through the canals on their way to TNW2025.But while Gebler holds a PhD in AI and is driving automation at scale, he’s clear that robots won’t replace humans entirely.
Previously, Picnic’s ‘shoppers,’ who fill orders and deliver them to customers’ doors, had to walk around large warehouses picking out each item.Now the company’s fully-automated fulfilment centres in the Netherlands and Germany are helping to lighten the load (and the number of steps shoppers have to take) by automating the item picking process with robotic arms.
At its newest order fulfilment centre in Oberhausen, Germany, Picnic is capable of processing up to 33,000 online orders per day, serving up to 200,000 households. The warehouse employs 1,500 robots… and 1,000 humans.Why? Because some tasks are still better handled by people.Bananas and champagne: Robots struggle with irregularly shaped items, fragile goods like eggs, or high-value products like champagne bottles.
Packing efficiency: Humans can easily rearrange crates to maximize space, while robots require predefined layouts. They also have trouble opening boxes.Final touches: Even in highly automated centers, the last step — packing items into a customer’s delivery box — is still done by hand.To work around these limits, Picnic uses product whitelisting to decide which orders a robot can fill.
For example, an order containing bags of crisps and heavy bottles of soda would be a no go for a robot.So, as robots evolve will they ever completely replace Picnic’s warehouse shoppers?“Absolutely not. As mentioned, it isn’t our goal to replace them either, but rather to use robots to boost our warehouse’s performance.
Shoppers remain at the core of our warehouse operations, with robots complementing their efforts,” says Picnic software engineer Jhon Mauro Gomez.In other words: automation makes Picnic faster and more efficient, but it’s a collaboration, not a takeover.Could AI be coming for your boss? (Don’t get your hopes too high)The rise of AI is also transforming what “management” means inside companies.
But Gebler believes AI won’t necessarily eliminate management entirely — it will reinvent it.“Most likely what we now have as management won’t exist anymore,” Gebler said. “The relevance of ownership — owning what you build, owning what you run — will become even more important. Because everybody will be a designer, a builder, and also an operator.
”This shift gives teams more autonomy and room for experimentation. At Picnic, developers have used that freedom to:Launch return deliveries: Customers can now return retail items from other brands using Picnic’s delivery vans — making the fleet more efficient.Offer meals, not just items: Families benefit more from curated meal packages rather than piecing together individual products.
The rise of “AI-free Fridays”Gebler is also pushing for “AI-free days” — dedicated time where developers ditch AI tools and sharpen their human skills. Because while AI can crunch data, it still can’t improvise like a human.Whether in grocery warehouses or corporate boardrooms, the future isn’t humans versus robots — it’s humans with robots.
Automation is best at handling repetitive, structured tasks. Humans shine in areas requiring adaptability, creativity, and judgment.From bananas and champagne to AI-free Fridays, Picnic is proving that the future of work is not about replacement, but reinvention.Image credit: “BvOF RoboCup2013 – RoboCup Soccer Nao” by RoboCup2013 is licensed under CC BY 2.
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