Imagine ordering a takeaway on your phone and then minutes later a notification on your device alerts you that your food is about to arrive right at your door.

But instead of  a lovely person with a carrier bag full of delicious grub, your takeaway is dropped off by an electronically controlled drone.

Well it sounds very much like science fiction, but it’s probably closer than you think…this could be the ‘Rise of the Machines’.

For restaurant and takeaway food operators around the world, there is often an issue with quality control when delivering food. This is for the most part caused by timing.

The time it takes for a pizza, for instance, to leave the oven and to your home will have a massive effect on the taste, texture and overall experience of the dish.

That’s before you factor in the added running costs of operating takeaway and take-out options. Sometimes it’s just easier to not offer takeaways at all.

A photo posted by Bali Barber (@balibarber) on Mar 21, 2015 at 12:04am PDT

But what if we could utilise technology to take the pressure off businesses and establishments that want to offer takeaway but refuse to compromise on service and quality?

Well, we’ve already adopted the first portion of our potential equation. Mobile orders are being used just about everywhere. It’s easy, convenient and in a world where the internet is pervasive amongst all age groups and demographics, the addition has proven a massive success to those early adopters.

Could you see yourself operating a business or order from a business that could have a product at your door well within an hour? Online retail behemoth, Amazon has been offering just that in parts of the US, with it’s Amazon Prime Air service.

The Modern Transport Bill, which was laid out by the Queen in her May 2016 speech, includes measures to encourage investment in drones, and drone technology.

Food delivery could in theory be changed overnight with the introduction of air based drone delivery, less road congestion, less time waiting for products, therefore lower production and of course delivery costs for all.

Agricultural production could be streamlined with lower requirement on expensive crop treatment equipment, monitoring and, protecting and treating crops could be done without need to ever get into a tractor again.

There are of course nuisance, air traffic and liability concerns. Who will govern this new found in-air delivery highway? And what happens if something were to go awry and an accident were to occur? Who is to blame? Who takes liability?

Of course there are going to be inherent risks and challenges to overcome when introducing a possibly revolutionary new technology and system of technology application to a wider section of society.

But we think this could be the next big revolution to thoroughly reinvent the food production and food delivery industry.

Just don’t forget to tip your drone pilot.