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[title]When we were young, we thought by 2022 we would have flying cars and all be taking trips to the moon. While it seems advanced technology has been geared towards more important things (can't blame them), Melbourne has just got a taste of the shiny future, with the arrival of a robotic barista.
Rovii the robot is the 24/7 robot barista who has taken up residence at Westfield Doncaster. Set to cause a stir in the hospitality industry, Rovii's owners (parents? leaders?), Ilona Liu and Wilson Wang, are setting out to combat systemic labour shortages by establishing an 'always-on' service to Melburnians whom they allege each drinks 203 coffees on average a year (we honestly thought that would be higher?).
Ilona says that Rovii has arrived at a crucial time. “Since the pandemic, the challenges felt across the hospitality and quick service industry have been significant," she says. "Staffing is an issue across all areas of hospitality, and Rovii is a solution for this. People in Melbourne have a high standard when it comes to coffee, and Rovii does a great job of exceeding expectations.”
Almost all stakeholders in the hospitality industry have suffered from the crushing blow of the last few pandemic years. Countless people lost their jobs during years of endless lockdowns. Many businesses went under as they struggled to make ends meet. Employees faced the harsh reality of losing foreign staff, as well as the nightmare that was rostering staff during forced isolation and quarantine periods. Consumers have watched many of their favourite neighbourhood joints suffer, and have experienced first hand the difficulty of trying to dine out at restaurants and cafés that are severely understaffed.
Given the challenges faced during the last few years and the remarkable resilience shown across the industry, is the answer to staff shortages really replacing humans with robots?
There is no doubt a lot of complex work that needs to be done across the hospitality industry to attract and maintain staff, but one could argue that replacing us with robots is a cop-out solution and leading us on a slippery slope towards a mechanic and sterile hospitality industry.
On the other hand, Rovii could prove to be an effective and sustainable solution for business owners, particularly small business owners, who suffer the consequences of staff shortages. “Rovii ranges in pricing from $150,000 to $200,000 upfront," Ilon says, "however we calculate that hospitality managers could save around $120,000 per year in staff and operational costs by using Rovii. They can use these savings to invest in other parts of their businesses, such as higher-quality ingredients and eco-friendly packaging.”
And there is no doubting Rovvi's efficiency: it takes approximately one minute to make a coffee, followed by only ten seconds of cleaning. And hey, with the price of living continuously rising, Rovii also offers a cheaper solution. A coffee double-shot can be purchased for just $4. It certainly is hard to find a decent human-made coffee for $4 these days.
It begs the question of what we value more in this fast-paced world: quick and consistent robotic service, or do we still crave the human connection and personal interaction we get from chatting to our local barista every morning? Only time will tell, and in the meantime, we suspect Rovii will ruffle a few feathers along the way.
While we applaud innovative initiatives like this one, we also hope to continue to see the rebuild of Melbourne's thriving and dynamic hospitality industry back to its former glory days - and given how busy our restaurants and cafes are becoming, we suspect we are well on our way there. We are excited to see other initiatives evolving, such as the Clipboard Hospitality app, a platform recently launched to attempt to tackle the mental health crisis in the hospitality industry.
If you are keen to see what robot coffee tastes like, you can find Rovii at Shop K114, Westfield Doncaster. Oh, and remember Rovii never sleeps and is open 24/7, seven days a week...