S$1 kopi, freshly made by a robot

ROBOTICS and automation, touted for years as ways to ease the labour crunch in Singapore's F&B sector, have seen limited take-up, with operators largely put off by investment costs. But the difficulties of operating in the current pandemic could spark new interest in such solutions.

In the span of one month, two homegrown cafes with fully automated robots making the drinks have opened. Ratio Café and Lounge, which first started out in China, had its soft launch on Monday at The Centrepoint; Crown Coffee's outlet featuring a standalone robot barista was launched at CT Hub 2 in October.

Keith Tan, CEO of Crown Group, said the outlet was launched as a response to the systemic challenges in F&B that have been heightened by the pandemic, such as high rents and the shortage of labour. It also reduces physical interaction, as customers can order and pay through a mobile app.

More of such outlets could come. Gavin Pathross, the Singaporean founder of Ratio, told The Business Times: "We're not proactively trying to ask F&B operators to embrace automation. There seems to be a very natural evolution of F&B operators already seriously considering automation and have been reaching out to us for customised automation work."

Reap productivity gains and cost savings

Aside from being a consumer brand, Ratio is also a tech solution provider to F&B operators. For example, The Singapura Club will lease Ratio's robotic setup for S$3,000 a month to help with cocktail making when it launches its third restaurant later this month, in Seletar Airport. Ratio, which is backed by institutional investors Frasers Property, JustCo, zVentures and Oro, aims to deploy more than 20 units in Singapore - either in its own stores or through other operators - over the next 12 months.

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To be sure, the technology can be costly to develop indeed. Crown Group's robot, "Ella", was developed for S$4 million. Ratio, meanwhile, has about 20 engineers working full-time on its robot.

But it is because the robotic arms are typically just part of much more complex operating systems. For instance, Mr Pathross said Ratio's engineering team built its own suite of software, from the order management system to the inventory management system. They also built and re-configured some of the kitchen equipment - such as an ice-maker that can dispense exact quantities of ice - themselves.

Operators stand to reap productivity gains and cost savings. Crown Group's Ella can make up to 200 cups of coffee an hour, while Ratio's robot can produce over 300 cups of coffee an hour. Both cafes typically have just one employee on-site --and the employee performs a higher value role instead. Ratio's employees, who are trained baristas and mixologists, perform a similar role to sommeliers. "In fact, Ratio experienced a significantly lower attrition rate because of the increased job satisfaction," said Mr Pathross.

In addition, the robots take up very little space, meaning operators can optimise real estate. Ella, for instance, takes up less than six square metres.

The cost savings are reflected in Crown Coffee and Ratio's pricing of drinks. The former's drinks start from S$4, while those from the latter (such as kopi o kosong) can be as cheap as a dollar.

The robots' operators insisted that the drinks are nothing like a vending machine's. "A robot cafe or lounge mimics the human production cycle so that there is no compromise on its taste. We use fresh ingredients and mix it with base spirits, liqueurs and mixers, then add ice, shake and serve in a beautiful glass, just like a bartender would," said Mr Pathross. But you will have to try it yourself.