Starbucks and Robots. A Match Made In Heaven. Starbucks's Robotic Future.
Upon first thought, the concept of barista’s and robots working together, sounds contradictory.
Part of what makes cafe’s so special, are the barista’s who work there. Not only do they have an profound expertise in the art of making coffee, but customers commonly form attachments with baristas.
So when you add robots into the equation, it dehumanises the art of coffee making to a degree.
But what if I told you that barista’s and robots can work in perfect tandem with each other, an ultimately improve coffee lovers experience.
Robotic Cafés
With robotic engineers always cracking away, advancing the sophistication of robots. Ambitious entrepreneurs have begun setting up fully automated robotic cafes.
Originating from San Francisco, Cafe X is a robotic coffee shop chain that has robotic coffee bars in the San Francisco Airport and Dubai.
Artly coffee is a robotic coffee shop based in Seattle. They currently operate across 4 different states in America.
There’s a plethora of other robotic cafes that are popping up across the globe. With most stores being entirely robotic, it’s a fun experience for customers when ordering. Not only do customers purchase their order from a robot, but they also witness the creation of their coffee, occurring right in front of them via a robot.
And most importantly, the coffee actually tastes really good.
Barista’s & Robots, Why They Need Each Other
Starbucks hasn’t incorporated a strong degree of robotizsation into their workforce as of yet. In your local Starbucks your more than likely going to see human employees working away at the back, producing your coffee.
But should things remain this way?
Although Starbucks’s human workforce works exceptionally well and is productive. Starbucks could benefit from using robots. One of the major issues Starbucks employees regularly face, is intense workloads with understaffed employees.
Robots are the perfect solution to this problem. With Robots on deck, the robots can perform time-consuming tasks, such as coffee brewing, meanwhile employees handle customer interactions.
It’s a perfect combination. The robots excel in quickly, efficiently and productively preparing the coffee, while humans handle the social elements of the store.
Starbucks would still retain their human touch and connection to customers, while simultaneously eliminating the issue of long-lines and slow delivery of orders.
The Technological Future of Retail Coffee
Ultimately it all comes down to balance. I believe that customers would benefit and enjoy a balance between humans & robots. The stores wouldn’t feel overly robotiznised, and they delivery of orders would be quick.
The technological future of coffee chains is still very uncertain, and no one really knows when coffee companies will intergrate robots into their workforce.
For now we can enjoy the pleasant of service of humans employees, but there may come a time, when all that changes…
