((PKG)) ROBOT BARISTA
((Banner: A Modern Worker))
((Reporter/Camera: Elizabeth Lee))
((Map: Austin, Texas))
((Wendy Cummings, Coffee Drinker))
I think it’s super cool. It’s so innovative. I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s really fun to, like, watch your coffee getting made by a robot. It’s amazing.
((NATS: Charles Studor, Founder, Briggo))
So you can select whatever you want. You just “Place Order.” Now hit “Submit,” and you’re good. Come back when you get a text.
((Charles Studor, Founder, Briggo))
So I started the company in 2008. We’ve been developing the machines over time. We’ve had people from all over the world, since we started, asking for this. Coffee is ubiquitous, right? And this problem that we’re solving is common around the world. The problem is, very high quality coffee that’s convenient, that’s consistent, done just the way you like, and that is very efficient in the use of the beans and the raw material. I started the company really thinking about the way we consume quality products in the West. We’re often very wasteful, and we don’t really understand what it’s taken to get those quality beans, in this case beans, to our mouth essentially, and we want to be able to connect at the end of the day – not just solve the problem of quality coffee, convenient – but also the connection back to origin. So we buy coffee direct from Central America. And the idea is that in the end, we can use this platform, Connect, through the end customer, to the farmers. And maybe the farmers have some issues, and maybe we can do programs where we connect to you, and say, “Help with the water project” or “Help with a motor blower that’s gone down in the small cooperative.” So, how do we use the technology of this century to connect people in lots of different ways? And coffee is a common ground that everyone can relate to.
((Astrid Chacon, Coffee Drinker))
It’s going to take a little bit of time, but I’m sure we’re going to be having this, instead of having Starbucks out there.
((Wendy Cummings, Coffee Drinker))
I think that, in certain places, for sure. Especially, like, office buildings, it’s easy to have them just be, you know, in a smaller area, where they don’t have to staff an entire barista at all times.
((Voice of Charles Studor, Founder, Briggo))
It’s a big market. And so, there are specialty coffee shops where there are high quality, trained baristas that I don’t think we’ll ever replace.
((Charles Studor, Founder, Briggo))
I mean, there is a place and time for those. But there’s a lot of places around. Think of a hospital in the middle of the night. Where is the quality coffee there? Where is it at 5:30 in the morning at the airport? And so, we want to get that quality experience in all those spaces that are really underserved.
((Astrid Chacon, Coffee Drinker))
It seems like a really good idea to have them everywhere, because, like, it’s perfect to just avoiding lines, just getting there, picking your coffee, and you’re good to go for the day.
VOA Connect
