Dal.komm beefs up robot cafes amid popularity of unmanned takeout cafes

Dal.komm Coffee`s robot caf B;eat in Kyunghee university. [Photo by Dal.komm Coffee]

Unmanned cafes are catching on in Korea, with franchise Dal.komm Coffee opening up robot café B;eat in several major university campuses in Seoul to provide quick and convenient service at affordable prices to grab-and-go customers.

B;eat that can operate around the clock takes orders through a mobile app and customers can take out their drinks brewed by a robot barista without standing in line. The mini café offers coffee drinks brewed with premium beans at half the price of other specialty coffee shops.

The robot café takes two to three days to be installed anywhere on an area of just 6 to 7 square meters. The unmanned take-out stand can run 24/7 without any extra costs for labor, interior and maintenance.

Dal.komm Coffee upgraded its robot-serving coffee stand by adopting 5G network solution and artificial intelligence technology earlier this year. It launched the second version of the service named B;eat 2E at Shinhan Bank’s cafeteria last month, which provides much faster service through voice command. B;eat 2E can serve up to 120 cups of drinks of 47 menu items per hour, the company said.

Barista robot UR3e at Gangnam N Tower in Seoul. [Photo by Universal Robots]

Robot cafes are gaining popularity for time-pressed modern day consumers who want decent coffee drinks at cheaper prices. Local robot manufacturer Universal Robots unveiled barista robot UR3e on June 13 at Gangnam N Tower in central Seoul, which is capable of dripping coffee in a very sophisticated manner.

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