Coffee break? Grab a cuppa at Singapore's first robot barista outlet

 She is a barista with a very strong arm.

And "Ella", Singapore's first fully automated robot barista, will be serving customers their caffeine fixes at CityHub mall in Lavender from Saturday (Oct 3).

Crown Coffee, the food and beverage arm of Crown Group, said the outlet was launched in an effort to push automation and reduce physical interaction in the light of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ella, named after Crown Group founder and chief executive Keith Tan's wife, served a range of hot drinks to Minister of State for Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling and members of the media at a launch event on Friday.

In a speech at the event, Ms Low, who is also Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth, emphasised the importance of digitalisation and automation in navigating the pandemic, and zoomed in on Ella as a solution that creates opportunity from chaos.

"While Covid-19 has severely impacted our businesses and economy, it has also created the impetus for us to build stronger business capabilities and seek out new growth opportunities," she said.

Crown Coffee's new robot barista is able to make up to 200 cups of coffee an hour. It joins a host of new innovations spurred on by Covid-19 such as cleaning robots.

Ella brews and serves coffee behind a transparent screen in a contactless set-up. Users will have to download the Crown Coffee mobile app, through which they can order drinks and pick them up at their convenience.

Developed by Crown Group's technology arm, Crown Digital, Ella is Mr Tan's response to the cost pressures of training and retaining human workers, and a pre-emptive response to digital disruption.

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/crowncoffeesg/posts/2371035423204805[/embed]

"We need to disrupt ourselves, as opposed to waiting for things to change," said the former wealth manager, who started Crown Group in 2016 to follow his passion for coffee.

Ella has been in development since 2017, when the first prototype was built.

Mr Tan, 40, said Ella is part of his company's aim to serve consistent, barista-quality coffee to more people conveniently.

He added: "Ella's main application will be in high-traffic areas like MRT stations or airports. Imagine you're on your way to work and you order your coffee from the mobile app and when you get to the station your coffee is waiting for you."

Crown Group is currently seeking funding to expand Ella across Singapore and beyond, said a spokesman.

Asked about the costs involved compared to employing human baristas, Mr Tan said that it will take some time for any savings from automation to accrue.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.