USA | The rebound in the United States robot market carries a clear message for Pacific food manufacturers, exporters and industrial suppliers: automation is moving beyond automotive plants and into production environments where labour, consistency and throughput are becoming harder to manage.
Preliminary data from the International Federation of Robotics showed industrial robot installations in the United States increased by 11 percent year-on-year, reaching 38,000 units in 2025.
Automotive remained the largest adopter, with 13,500 installations, just one percent below the previous year. However, the strongest movement came from the food industry, where robot adoption increased by 30 percent.
That matters for Pacific manufacturers because the US data points to a broader shift in how automation is being used. Robots are no longer being viewed only as high-volume automotive equipment. They are increasingly being considered for processing, packing, handling, quality control and other operational areas where labour availability, repeatability and cost control are under pressure.
Takayuki Ito, President of the International Federation of Robotics, said the US had returned to growth, with food industry adoption showing rising demand for flexible automation.
Food sector installations in the US now sit alongside metal and machinery, and electrical-electronics, with each of those sectors recording around 3,000 installations in 2025.
For New Zealand, Australia and wider Pacific food and beverage businesses, the relevance is not that local adoption mirrors the US exactly. It is that the same commercial questions are becoming harder to avoid. Can plants maintain output when labour is tight? Can they reduce rework and waste? Can they improve line efficiency without adding more people? Can they meet retailer and export requirements while protecting margins?
Robot density in the United States now stands at 307 industrial robots for every 10,000 manufacturing employees. That places the US eighth globally, behind South Korea, Germany and Japan, but ahead of China on density.
China’s Scale Raises the Pressure
China, however, remains far ahead on market scale. Annual industrial robot installations in China reached 295,000 units in 2024, representing 54 percent of the global market. Preliminary results for China in 2025 have not yet been published, but IFR estimates installations are around ten times higher than in the United States.
China’s position is tied to long-term national strategy. Its 15th Five-Year Plan for 2026 to 2030 has placed robotics at the centre of its modern industrial system, with a stronger focus on artificial intelligence in physical industrial applications.
That creates a second pressure point for Pacific manufacturers. Automation is no longer only an internal efficiency issue. It is becoming part of global competitiveness. Exporters competing against highly automated production systems may face increasing pressure on pricing, consistency, compliance capability and speed to market.
For food and beverage companies, the question is not whether robots replace people. The more immediate issue is whether automation can protect throughput, reduce waste, improve workplace safety and allow existing teams to focus on higher-value tasks.
North America is also moving to strengthen its robotics policy environment. The Association for Advancing Automation has released its Vision for a US National Robotics Strategy, calling for a central robotics office, a robotics commission, tax incentives, expanded workforce training, research support and updated safety standards.
Planning Before Labour Constraints Bite
For Pacific businesses, that policy direction is worth watching. If larger economies align government support, workforce training and procurement around robotics, the technology may develop faster, become more accessible and set new expectations across global supply chains.
The commercial implications are direct. Food manufacturers reviewing new production lines, packaging formats, export growth or capacity expansion may need to build automation into procurement decisions earlier. Waiting until labour constraints become urgent can leave businesses retrofitting systems into facilities that were not designed for them.
The opportunity is not limited to large manufacturers. Smaller processors may benefit from modular robotics, collaborative robots, automated packing, vision systems and materials handling solutions that reduce dependence on hard-to-fill roles.
However, the return on investment must be clear. Automation decisions need to be tied to rate of sale, production bottlenecks, labour exposure, product waste, downtime and the cost of missed supply. Buying technology without a defined operational problem risks adding complexity rather than removing it.
The US figures show that industrial robotics is broadening beyond its traditional base. For Pacific food and beverage manufacturers, that should sharpen the discussion around investment, skills and plant design.
As global competitors lift their automation capability, the risk is not simply being slower to adopt robotics. The greater risk is allowing production models, workforce planning and capital expenditure decisions to fall behind the markets setting the next standard for efficient manufacturing.
