NEW YORK, NY, USA – Rozum Café, an automated barista by Rozum Robotics, has launched a robotics cafe in Dubai, UAE. The First Lady of Nigeria Aisha Buhari was among the first visitors. The solution looks like a coffee point with a collaborative robot behind the glass. It can make six classic hot coffee drinks and three iced coffee beverages.
The output can reach up to 400 cups per day. To order a drink, visitors need to use a POS system. All payments are contactless, and the automated barista doesn’t accept cash. To attract customers’ attention, the robot performs a welcoming dance.
The particularity of this coffee machine robot is that the manipulator mimics the movements of a human barista to deliver a cup of coffee. Unlike vending options, the coffee-making process in this case is more than pushing a button on a machine.
“You may have heard the opinion that automation reduces art to a simple act, but this is not the case with Rozum Café,” says Darya Hancharyk, Head of Marketing for Rozum Robotics. “When it comes to coffee brewing, there is no difference between a human and our robot. It repeats all the steps of a coffee house employee and makes beverages from the best blends in the specialty coffee segment.”
Rozum Robotics sees the preservation of the coffee-making process as their competitive advantage:
“By preserving the process in all its glory, we keep the quality of our coffee at the highest level,” adds Darya. “You get your latte at a quick pace, with no infection risks, and of the very taste you’ve come to love. Since the robot never makes mistakes, the quality of the beverage you get is always consistent. You can compare such a drink to a fragrance: you’ll always recognize it”.
This unit isn’t the first robotics cafe by the company. Previously, Rozum Robotics had installed automated baristas in Belarus and Saudi Arabia. In Riyadh, there is a whole franchise for this product. The network goes by the name of Cubo Coffee House. In the UAE, there is only one robotic barista for now. It belongs to the brand Area 2071 by Dubai Future Foundation.
“There is only one automated barista for now, but it’s a rather untypical version of what we do for us,” clarifies Darya. “If you take a look at the coffee point, you’ll notice that the design is different from our typical aesthetics. Dubai Future Foundation wanted something different to fit into their interior. To fulfill the order, we added two tables to the robotics cafe and made them look a bit futuristic. It’s pretty convenient: you can stand near the table and drink your coffee in no haste.”
The launch for this particular robotics cafe and Rozum was pretty special due to the visit by the Nigerian First Lady, Aisha Buhari.
“There was no official invitation or anything,” says Darya. “The visit was totally unexpected. Aisha Buhari was just passing by and then saw the automated barista in action. She decided to take a closer look, and the moment got on cameras. We feel pretty honored that she paid attention to what we do.”
Rozum Robotics is now getting ready to launch more robotic coffee spaces in Poland and Germany. The company also hopes to present the robotics cafe to the US coffee lovers this year as soon as it finalizes patent issues. More information about the upcoming changes will be released soon.
Rozum Robotics is a Belarusian hardware company that produces collaborative robots, frameless engines, servomotors. Their Rozum Café is a food tech development that has at its heart the cobot PULSE.
Dubai Future Foundation builds an innovation ecosystem that includes accelerator programs, incubators, labs, regulatory sandboxes, and knowledge platforms – all with the purpose of challenging the status quo and designing a future-ready city powered by future leaders and disrupters.
