John C. Miller

John C. Miller (born 1978) is an American businessman and attorney serving as the CEO of CaliBurger and its parent company CaliGroup.

This article is about the businessman. For the US historian, see John Chester Miller.
John C. Miller
Born1978 (age 42–43)
Alma materUniversity of Redlands (BA)
Stanford University (JD)
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 2005; div. 2018)​
Children2

Early life and education

John C. Miller was raised in Los Angeles.[1] Miller has a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Redlands. After graduating from Stanford Law School with a JD,[2] Miller was admitted to the California Bar.[2]

Career

Miller was vice president of intellectual property at a public pharmaceutical company, Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, from 2004 to 2010.[3] He co-authored a book called The Handbook of Nanotechnology: Business, Policy, and Intellectual Property Law.[3][2]

After spending time working in Asia,[4] Miller founded Pasadena-based technology company CaliGroup. CaliGroup's new technology is trialled at the CaliBurger chain of restaurants, offering solutions for "food production, delivery, take out and drive thru".[5] They have invested in gaming to make the restaurant experience more entertaining.[6] Robotics, created by the subsidiary Miso Robotics,[7] are used in the kitchen to fry burgers. Through the Cali Group subsidiary PopID,[8] facial recognition software allows customers to place orders and pay.[9][10][11][12]

Miller believes the "restaurant industry has come under attack from increasing costs" and aims to use robotics to "drive down costs associated with labor, especially turnover."[13][14] He remarked: "Millenials that we hire don't tend to stay very long. They come in, we train them, they work for a while, then go drive an Uber and go home and pay competitive video games".[15]

In a Fox News interview in 2017, Miller said the robotic technology increased the quality, consistency and hygiene standards of food as "robots don't spit in food or contaminate food."[15] He said employees' strengths were related to "social interaction" with customers.[15] In response to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Miller said body thermometer devices would check for feverish temperatures as customers entered CaliBurger's Pasadena store.[16]

In 2020, Miller was included on Nation's Restaurant News' Power List.[17]

CaliBurger

CaliBurger is a fast-food restaurant with West Coast-styled fries, burgers, and milkshakes. The menu in certain locations includes vegan options with sauces and cheese, and patties by Beyond Meat.[18] Spiked milkshakes, beer, and wine are available at select locations.

CaliBurger uses a robotic device named "Flippy" in its restaurants for certain types of food preparation.[19] An upgraded version called "Flippy Robot-on-a-Rail" or "Flippy ROAR" was announced in October 2020. It is being implemented in 50 CaliBurger locations.[20]

The company has a broad international presence, with locations in the United States, Mexico, China, Kuwait, Malaysia, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, and United Arab Emirates.[21]

CaliBurger was sued by In-N-Out Burger in 2012 for selling “Animal Style” fries and serving milkshakes in palm-tree-print cups; the lawsuit was settled and CaliBurger agreed to change their menu and decor.[22]

Personal life

Miller married violinist Caroline Campbell in April 2005. He filed for divorce in June 2011, but they reconciled the following February. They filed divorce papers again in October 2014. In October 2016, they agreed to joint legal custody of their daughter Violet and son Quest.[23][2] The divorce was finalized in November 2018.[24]

Miller dated actress Jennifer Garner from mid-2018 to early 2020.[25][26][27]

References
  1. "In-N-Out vs. CaliBurger: Double-Double trouble in Shanghai". Los Angeles Times. 10 February 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  2. "Jennifer Garner's New Guy, Burger Chain CEO John Miller: Everything to Know". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  3. "Can a robot rule the restaurant? Cali Group says yes - Franchise Times - February 2020 - FranchiseTimes.com". www.franchisetimes.com. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  4. Tomky, Naomi (4 February 2016). "Can CaliBurger Really Take On In-N-Out?". Thrillist. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  5. "Cali Group Expands Use of Facial Recognition Tech". Hospitality Technology. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  6. "Caliburger's CEO offers vision for automated restaurants". www.fastcasual.com. 30 August 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  7. "Tech incubator Cali Group sees wider adoption of facial recognition software". Nation's Restaurant News. 2 December 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  8. Gore, Rachel (2020-02-21). "Hungry for a Better Fast Food Experience? This Payments Technology Can Make that Happen". www.paymentsjournal.com. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  9. Clifford, Catherine (2 February 2018). "You can pay for your burger with your face at this fast food restaurant, thanks to A.I." CNBC. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  10. Dorsey, David. "In the Know: CaliBurger opens at University Village with robots flipping, frying". The News-Press. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  11. Bindley, Katherine (19 September 2018). "Facial Recognition Goes Mainstream". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  12. Kaiser, Tom (3 January 2020). "'Face Wallets' Put Money in Restaurateurs' Pockets | Food On Demand". foodondemandnews.com. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  13. "Can a robot rule the restaurant? Cali Group says yes - Franchise Times - February 2020 - FranchiseTimes.com". www.franchisetimes.com. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  14. Morath, Julie Jargon and Eric (24 June 2018). "Short of Workers, Fast-Food Restaurants Turn to Robots". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  15. "CaliBurger chain rolls out burger-flipping robot - CEO John Miller discusses moving towards automation". Fox News. 2017-03-10. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  16. Moore, Cortney (24 March 2020). "Coronavirus fever checks, facial recognition implemented by burger chain". FOXBusiness. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  17. "Cali Group CEO John Miller expands company into new restaurant technologies". Nation's Restaurant News. 17 January 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  18. Plumb, Tierney (2019-10-04). "Robo-Flipping CaliBurger Locates a Home in Tysons Corner". Eater (website). Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  19. "CaliBurger - Meet Flippy, our new kitchen assistant". Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  20. Vincent, James (2020-10-08). "This robot fry chef on rails can be yours for $30,000 - Miso Robotics' machines can flip burgers and dunk fries". The Verge. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  21. "CaliBurger Locations". CaliBurger. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  22. "In-N-Out vs. CaliBurger: Double-Double trouble in Shanghai". Los Angeles Times. 10 February 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  23. "Jennifer Garner's New BF John Miller: Everything We Know About His Divorce". Us Weekly. 24 October 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  24. "John Miller's Ex Finds Out That Her Divorce Is Finalized on the Internet". Us Weekly. 17 November 2018. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  25. "Jennifer Garner and New Boyfriend John Miller Step Out for Smiley Date Night in L.A." PEOPLE.com. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  26. "Jennifer Garner Steps Out with John Miller, Almost a Year After They Were First Seen Together". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  27. "Jennifer Garner and Boyfriend John Miller Break Up After Almost 2 Years Together". E! Online. 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
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