Barista Robots: Which Exist and How Well They Make Coffee
Although the American coffee company and the eponymous Starbucks coffee chain was founded in 1971, it did not expand properly until 1987. As of 2018, the chain had grown from nine to more than 29,000 outlets in 75 countries around the world.
It all started in the US, where 90% of residents consume caffeine in various forms every day. The average Joe drinks two cups of coffee a day.
Yet Americans are not the only ones hooked on this hot, invigorating drink: more than 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed worldwide every day. Surprisingly, the Scandinavians drink the most coffee. The average Finn drinks up to 12 kg of coffee a year.
Coffee has become an integral part of daily rituals for millions of people around the world. The French philosopher Voltaire believed that the 40-50 cups he drank a day inspired his genius.
Suppose each Starbucks coffee shop employs six baristas. That makes 174,000 baristas worldwide, earning $11.63 an hour (average hourly pay, according to PayScale). The company spends billions of dollars a year on wages. There are two ways to increase profit: raise revenue or cut costs. Installing barista robots is becoming a popular practice that lets companies save huge sums, since in most outlets labor accounts for about 60% of costs.
Here are five companies that successfully use robots to prepare and serve coffee.
Briggo (Costa Coffee)
Founded in 2011 in Austin, Texas, US, the startup Briggo has raised a total of $19 million in funding across six rounds to develop what the company calls the first robotic baristas: a machine that serves 100 cups of coffee an hour, roughly what 3-4 baristas can make.
The menu includes the drinks you would expect to see at any coffee shop, but the company uses premium ingredients with an emphasis on quality. Customers can also place orders in advance through the app, save favorite orders for a quick transaction next time, and receive text messages when their drink is ready.
Cafe X
Founded in 2015, San Francisco startup Cafe X Technologies has raised a total of $14.5 million from investors including Silicon Valley Bank and The Thiel Foundation. Cafe X focuses on adding a "wow factor" to every customer's coffee experience.
Theatrical coffee preparation always takes center stage. This is how the Cafe X robot barista works:
- customers are greeted by a robot inside a store that resembles an aquarium
- the customer interacts with the robot through a large window, entering their order into the system on a tablet (orders can also be sent through the Cafe X mobile app)
- the robot prepares the drink: it moves the cup between devices that pour or add ingredients, stirs it, and then places the order in one of the special compartments
- the customer enters their order code, the compartment window opens, and the coffee can be picked up
- on the way out, the robot cheerfully waves its metal arm
Aabak
This Melbourne company built its own barista robot from scratch. Aabak's creators call their robot Rocky. It offers customers a more "personalized" coffee service.
Rocky performs all the manual steps of making espresso, from grinding the beans to snapping the lid onto the cup. It is almost an exact copy of a human barista, just without the beard and small talk. Aabak's barista robot is a ready-made unit that produces 120 cups of coffee an hour. It is simple to operate and offers customers a varied menu.
Crown Coffee
This Singapore company created an unusual concept of a robotic coffee shop that combines traditional Roman-style coffee served from mobile carts, operated by the barista robot Ella. Orders can be placed through a mobile app and then collected by holding the received QR code up to the screen.
In 2016, Crown Coffee founded Crown Robotics and developed the concept of a fully automated café run by six robots. Carts with Ella, who makes the coffee, are often used at exhibitions and large-scale events.
Rozum Café
The modern barista robot was created to give customers intelligent service and better coffee. The robot professionally prepares a range of coffee drinks, including espresso, americano, latte, flat white and others. Drinks can be ordered on a multilingual touchscreen device and paid for by card, phone or cash.
The barista robot makes coffee in two minutes, and customers can watch through glass panels at the coffee station. To create the ideal drink menu, the company brought in a professional barista who has won awards at various coffee competitions.
Briggo once said its robotic coffee shops are best suited to small spaces where people may want a great cup of coffee very quickly, such as airports or company offices. Besides speed and lower costs, barista robots can boast consistency.
Major players in the coffee market are not rushing to replace their staff with robots, but they are already using modern technology: Starbucks works with Amazon Alexa, which allows orders to be placed at one of the 10 coffee shops you have previously visited, while Dunkin' Donuts works with Google Assistant for its own version of this technology.
