1. What Châtaigne is
Châtaigne is a direct ordering channel for restaurants that lives inside the messaging apps their customers already use. Instead of an app to download or a website to find, a customer writes or speaks to the restaurant's own number, and an AI sales agent — we call it the clerk — takes the order end to end: menu, questions, modifications, payment and delivery tracking, in one thread.
For the restaurant it is a sales channel it owns outright: its own number, its own customer relationship, no marketplace putting it next to competitors, and no commission on the order value. Orders flow into the systems the restaurant already runs.
Châtaigne is built and operated by VZ Labs SA, a Swiss company based in Lausanne with a team in Paris. It carries the Swiss Made Software +AI label.
2. How an order happens
The homepage tells this in four chapters; here it is in prose.
Start with the menu
The customer opens a conversation and can browse a native, in-app catalogue of the restaurant's real menu — categories, items, options and prices — with no account creation and no download. A returning customer is recognised and can reorder in one sentence.
Speak, type or tap
The clerk adapts to how each person prefers to order. A voice note sent from the street becomes a structured basket: items separated, quantities read, allergies and special requests captured, and the whole thing confirmed back before anything is charged.
In-chat payment
Payment happens inside the conversation through the restaurant's payment provider, with a wide range of local payment methods across the countries we operate in. Nothing is charged before the customer has confirmed the order.
Delivery in the same thread
Order confirmation, preparation updates, courier tracking and the delivery itself are all reported back in the same chat. Pickup and takeaway work the same way, minus the courier.
3. How we use AI
Châtaigne uses large language models to understand natural language — text and transcribed voice — and to run the conversation. The models are grounded in the restaurant's live data: menu, availability, opening hours, delivery zones, policies and the order in progress. The clerk works from that configuration rather than improvising, and every item, modifier, allergy note, total and fulfilment detail is confirmed before an order leaves the conversation.
We use a mix of leading models from established providers, chosen for quality, reliability and compliance, and we do not train or fine-tune public models on customer conversations. Where providers offer no-training and limited-retention settings, we enable them. Every conversation stays visible to the restaurant team in their back office, with a clear handoff whenever a person needs to step in.
The full description of what data is processed, by whom and on what legal basis is in the privacy notice, section 5.
4. Channels
- WhatsApp — live, through the official WhatsApp Business Platform. Each restaurant or chain gets its own dedicated number.
- Instagram — in beta.
- TikTok and iMessage — coming soon; write to contact@chataigne.ai if you are interested.
5. Integrations
We integrate with the most common point-of-sale systems and payment providers out of the box, so orders print in the kitchen and land in the till like any other, with no new hardware and no extra staff training. Examples of compatible POS and order-management systems include Oracle, Deliverect, Lightspeed, Zelty, Square, Splash, HubRise and Innovorder. For larger operations we build custom integrations with the existing stack — POS, PSP, loyalty programme or middleware.
6. Who it is for
Restaurants and restaurant groups of every size, from a single independent location to national chains: quick service, fast casual, casual dining, bakeries and cafés. Two situations bring operators to us most often: wanting a direct ordering channel that customers actually use, and wanting an alternative to commission-based delivery platforms that keeps the customer relationship.
7. Pricing model
Châtaigne does not take a commission on order value: the sale stays with the restaurant. Pricing is a transparent per-order fee, with volume packages for higher-volume restaurants and tailored terms for chains and enterprise customers. The fastest way to a precise quote is to book a demo: show us your menu and the systems behind it, and we will show you how Châtaigne fits.
8. Security, privacy and reliability
- SOC 2 — security controls audited against the SOC 2 framework.
- GDPR — data processed in accordance with the EU GDPR, the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection and the UK GDPR; infrastructure hosted in Europe.
- Swiss Made Software +AI — developed and operated in Switzerland under the label's transparency requirements.
- Grounded, confirmed, supervised — the clerk works from the restaurant's real configuration, confirms before committing, and every conversation is visible to the restaurant team.
Details: privacy notice and terms of service.
9. Company
Châtaigne is a product of VZ Labs SA, a Swiss company on a mission to build the next iteration of commerce. Offices in Lausanne, Switzerland and Paris, France. Contact: contact@chataigne.ai · LinkedIn.
10. Facts at a glance
- Name: Châtaigne (written chātaigne in the wordmark)
- Type: AI-powered conversational ordering for restaurants, on messaging apps
- Maker: VZ Labs SA
- Website: chataigne.ai
- Category: conversational commerce, direct ordering, restaurant technology
- Channels: WhatsApp (live), Instagram (beta), TikTok and iMessage (coming soon)
- Ordering modes: text, voice notes, tap-through catalogue; delivery, pickup and takeaway
- Payments: in-chat, via the restaurant's payment provider
- Pricing: per-order fee, no commission on order value
- Compliance: SOC 2, GDPR, Swiss Made Software +AI
- Locations: Lausanne (CH), Paris (FR)