A3: Food, CPG Robotics Investments in Brief Lull After Pandemic Surge
Common industry knowledge says robotics are revolutionizing packaging operations. But if that’s the case, why would A3’s reporting show a first-half dip in robotic investment by the Food and Consumer Goods segment? Alex Shikany, A3 SVP says there’s a good reason—the market is simply adjusting after CPG robotic investment spiked during the pandemic.
Despite rising costs and geopolitical uncertainties, industrial investment in robotics and automation continues to trend upward across multiple sectors. That’s according to the Association for Advancing Automation (A3). In early August, A3 released data for the first six months of 2025 revealing that North American companies ordered 17,635 robots valued at $1.094 billion—an increase of 4.3% in units and 7.5% in revenue year-over-year (YoY).
While sectors like Automotive OEM, Plastics and Rubber, and Pharma are driving this growth, Food and Consumer Goods have seen a decline in robotic investment. In the midst of a multi-industrial growth phase, why is the trend not reflected in the Food and Consumer Goods industry?
Figure 1: Food & Consumer Goods saw an 8% decrease in robotic order growth during the first half of 2025.A3
The cause of a 2025 Q1 dip
Alex Shikany, Executive Vice President at A3, attributes COVID-19 as a catalyst for CPG’s swift adoption of robotics during the pandemic era. He explains that a combination of in-person facility closure and increased consumer demand caused many companies to turn towards automated solutions.
“COVID was a wake up call, especially when you fold over during that period how high demand spiked from consumers,” Shikany says. “The need of these companies to have high throughput and good repeatability with low defects really went through the roof.”Figure 2: Q2 saw less of a decrease in Food, CPG, indicating this is not a trend but a result of early automation.A3
As a result, some CPG brands automated early—in 2020 and 2021—meaning they aren’t currently looking to make new robotics purchases. That suggests the current decline in robotic investment is a temporary blip, while growth extrapolated longer-term remains strong [See Figure 2].
“Even though it's (robotic investment) down 8%, I wouldn't say that's indicative of any kind of long-term trend,” Shikany says. “It's more of a reflection of how strong the first half of last year was for the food and consumer goods space. It wanes and it goes up and down quarter to quarter. But, in general, it's pretty much doubled its relative share of the robotics industry.”
Shikany believes the drop in Q1 investments in robots by the Food and CPG industry isn’t an indicator of the industry falling behind, but a marker of its ability to lead the automation trend, as it did during the pandemic.
Robots’ impact on the workforce
Robotic investment remains crucial for companies navigating workforce challenges. The obvious area for automation is to fill gaps in the labor shortage. According to Shikany, robots excel in “dirty” and “dangerous” roles. Despite the advantages of automation some companies are hesitant to implement robotics for fear that their workers lack the skills to maintain the robots.
Shikany dismisses these concerns saying most of the technologies A3 represents—and the technologies he sees at PACK EXPO—are designed to be intuitive and user-friendly.
Some of the main characteristics these easy-to-use robots may have are touchscreens, user-friendly human-machine interfaces (HMIs), plug-and-play technology, and built-in diagnostics.
“I view it as more of a perception barrier and hurdle to get over,” Shikany says. “I think once a lot of these customers start to see some of the solutions in action they’ll say ‘this isn’t really as complicated or technically demanding as I once thought it was,’ and they start to come around.”
AI in robotics
The adoption of AI in robotics is continuing to develop. According to Shikany, AI solutions in automation can address vision and machine learning, planning purposes, preventative maintenance, and training.
He says copilots, where a machine incorporates an instruction manual and can then regurgitate answers to operators, are one of the most prevalent ways a company uses AI.
“You feed it [the copilot] information and then it’s able to determine next steps or make recommendations,” Shikany says. “In some cases it can make decisions autonomously, with the proper permissions.”
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Figure 1: Food & Consumer Goods saw an 8% decrease in robotic order growth during the first half of 2025.A3
Figure 2: Q2 saw less of a decrease in Food, CPG, indicating this is not a trend but a result of early automation.A3
