Freshii to remove controversial virtual cashier "Percy"
Canadian food franchise Freshii plans to remove its controversial virtual cashier, “Percy,” from its stores in the coming weeks.
Freshii received public backlash last year after a Toronto Star investigation found that the chain was outsourcing cashier work to employees in Central America.
Using a third-party company called Percy, the restaurant attached video-calling devices to cash registers at several locations across Canada.
When a customer approached, it lit up to show the face of a cashier thousands of kilometres away who only earned $3.75 per hour.
Twitter user @PeterofRecord tweeted a photo of the virtual cashier in action at a Freshii location over the weekend.
“This is a first for me. Grabbing lunch, one person in the kitchen preparing and my cashier virtual, physical location Pakistan,” he wrote. “I guarantee he’s not getting Ontario minimum wage.”
This is a first for me. Grabbing lunch, one person in the kitchen preparing and my cashier virtual, Physical location Pakistan. I guarantee he’s not getting Ontario minimum wage. pic.twitter.com/YhmkXtDV1q
— Peter Kiriazopoulos (@PeterofRecord) August 6, 2023
Freshii replied to his tweet on Tuesday, saying that this will change because it was acquired by Foodtastic, the Canadian company that owns Milestones, Pita Pit, and Second Cup.
“Hi, @PeterofRecord! Since we are now a part of Foodtastic, the new owners of Freshii, we are removing these from our stores!”
Hi @PeterofRecord! since we are now a part of Foodtastic, the new owners of freshii, we are removing these from our stores!
— Freshii (@freshii) August 8, 2023
Terry Faulconbridge, senior vice president of Foodtastic, confirmed with Daily Hive that they told Freshii franchises that they would prefer the virtual cashiers removed.
“We are doing our best to ensure that our customer service is more personalized,” he said over the phone. “So, part of the direction we’ve given to our stores is that we prefer the service be over-the-counter like we’ve done in all of our other restaurants.”
He said the directive was just given this week. Since each Freshii is independently operated, Faulconbridge said it may take some time for franchisees to decide and remove the equipment.
According to the Foodtastic executive, about eight stores across the country use Percy — some in BC, Alberta, and Ontario.
When asked to respond to the outrage the virtual cashiers caused last year, Faulconbridge said Foodtastic doesn’t have an opinion on the issue since it was put in place before they acquired Freshii.
Instead, the company tried to get a complete understanding of the system and asked franchisees their opinions. After that, Foodtastic concluded that they needed to remove it and go back to over-the-counter service.
Faulconbridge added that they’re also looking into self-service kiosks.
“I don’t think [the Freshii franchisees are] in love with the [virtual cashier] system,” he said.
“I think those who tried it were using it because they thought it was going to be something innovative. I think since they’ve decided that that innovation is kind of past its time because kiosks…are far friendlier to the average consumer than half a person talking to you virtually.”
He says two stores in Ontario have already removed the virtual cashier system.
Foodtastic acquired the franchise known for serving healthy fast-food alternatives in February, almost a year after former Freshii CEO Matthew Corrin stepped down amid backlash over its virtual cashiers.
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