(NewsNation) — Chipotle is taking food delivery to new heights by teaming up with drone delivery service Zipline.
The new service, known as “Zipotle,” allows customers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to have their Chipotle digital orders delivered using Zipline’s autonomous fleet of aircraft.
Eligible customers can place their Chipotle order via the Zipline app. Employees then move the order into a Zipping Point, which allows a Zip drone to autonomously pick up the order for delivery.
Costco executive members to get exclusive early shopping hours
After flying to the destination, the aircraft hovers about 300 feet in the air while a drone lowers the order to the ground.
Connor Wilkinson, Zipline’s head of customer experience, gave NewsNation an exclusive look at the process.
“It’ll stay over 300 feet in the air, and then the delivery Zip comes down on a tether. It’s similar to, like, a kite string,” Wilkinson said. “It’s going to come down using little electric fans with all those fixings you were looking for, just as you wanted, just for you.”
Skyrocketing diamond prices adding to cost of marriage proposals
Initially, Zipotle will carry orders up to 5.5 pounds and will increase to 8 pounds over time. Zipline plans to expand the service to other areas in the coming weeks, with at least 10 states lined up.
Food isn’t the only delivery service Zipline is working to make available to consumers.
Major hospitals, such as the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic, are exploring how Zipline could help the health care industry reach new heights.
Zipline began making autonomous deliveries of medical products to rural hospitals in Rwanda and now delivers to more than 4,000 health facilities worldwide. So far, Zipline has completed more than 1.6 million commercial deliveries.
