Robotic powered café opens in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA - Café X Technologies unveiled its first U.S. robotic café, opening this week in San Francisco.  Café X, who operate another store in Hong Kong, uses specially developed robotic technology to serve its customers consistent, barista-quality, premium coffee within seconds.
 
Café X aims to significantly reduce the on-site wait time often associated with buying premium-quality, espresso based beverages and make specialty coffee more accessible the short-on-time consumer. 
 
‘I’ve long been a big coffee consumer and there’s never a guaranteed seamless experience,’ says Founder and CEO Henry Hu. ‘In today’s world, you have two options for getting a cup of coffee: you’re either in and out with something subpar or you’re waiting in a 15-minute line for a great cappuccino. I started Cafe X to eliminate that inherent compromise and give people access to a tasty cup of coffee consistently and conveniently.’
 
With backing from a number of angel investors, Café X Technologies has partnered with WMF Group, an international manufacturer of fully automatic coffee machines, to develop the fully automated robotic technology.  This technology uses a Mitsubishi robot arm to incorporate speciality coffee preparation methods and remove the potential for ‘preparation error, and unexpected variability’.
 
For its San Francisco store, Café X has partnered with local roasters, AKA Coffee, Verve Coffee Roasters, and Peet’s Coffee to deliver the premium-quality coffee.  The selection includes single origin roasts and prices start at $2.25 for an 8 oz cup.
 
‘This won’t replace baristas or the coffee shop experience that so many people have come to love - we don’t aim to do that,’ says Hu. ‘What we’re offering is the best possible experience for people who are looking for consistent specialty coffee to-go.’