San Francisco cafe speeds up coffee orders with robot server

World Today

San Francisco cafe speeds up coffee orders with robot server

Robots are making their way into the workplace in new forms. One of those areas is food service. In fact, the industry is being introduced to a very special kind of barista.

CGTN’s Mark Niu reports from San Francisco.

People living in the San Francisco Bay Area, are witnessing an automated food service revolution. At Eatsa, quinoa bowls arrive with the touch of a button. At Zume, robots load pizzas into ovens. Now customers can get their coffee served by Gordon at Cafe X.

Customers can order with a caf tablet, or order ahead of time on their phones. Gordon’s arm moves cups around and can add flavorings. It serves up freshly brewed coffee from local specialty roasters.

Caf X has raised $5 million, but the business and Gordon the robot would not have been possible if the founder did not decide to drop out of school. That ironically qualified 23-year-old Henry Hu for a $100,000 from the Thiel Fellowship, started by tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel.

Hu left Babson College to solve a problem that drove him crazy: waiting in long lines for coffee.

Gordon serves between 2,000 and 3,000 cups of coffee a week, at a speed of about two cups per minute. A product specialist is on hand to answer questions.