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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Future of Drink

Kickstarter: Bottle+ is a Waste-Free Thermos That Gives You Fizzy Water on the Go

We drink an insane amount of bubble water in our household. And while it’s all from recyclable aluminum cans, it still feels… excessive. Which is why the new Bottle+ project on Kickstarter caught my eye. The SPARK Bottle+ is a travel thermos with a built-in, re-usable CO2 chamber to fizz up your water while you’re on the go. In addition keeping your drinks as maximum fizz even as the thermos jostles around in your backpack, the Bottle+ is also waste free.

There are three main components to the SPARK Bottle+, the main drinking vessel, a portable CO2 chamber that attaches to the vessel, and a refilling station. Just like a SodaStream, you place a CO2 cylinder inside the refilling station. When you’re ready to go, affix the chamber to the thermos and press it down onto the refilling station to load your Bottle+ with CO2. When you’re out, press the button on the CO2 chamber to carbonate your water. A full chamber can make produce 15 bottles of sparkling water before needing a recharge.

The whole system is circular and reusable so there is really no waste. The bottle itself is obviously reusable, and like the SodaStream the CO2 canisters can be swapped out and turned in for refilling. Plus, there are no pods to be packaged and shipped.

Launched on August 24th, the Bottle+ campaign has already blown past it Kickstarter goal of $29, 510 and has raised more than $77,000 as of this writing (with 31 days still to go). Early backers can pick up a complete Bottle+ system for €139 (~$164 USD). According to the campaign page, the Bottle+ system will cost €179 (~$211 USD). Units will ship in June 2022.

According to Grandview Research, the global market for sparkling water is valued at $29.71 billion, and projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 12.6 percent from this year to 2028. So Bottle+ is certainly launching at the right time.

The entire hydration space is actually chock-a-block with companies vying to improve the water you drink and how you drink it. In March of this year, Pani launched a crowdfunding campaign for its water filter/mineralizer/flavor pod system. Earlier this month, Cirkul raised $36 million for its reusable water bottle and flavor cartridge combo. And just last week, drink giant PepsiCo announced that it was bringing its SodaStream Pro fizzy water dispenser to college campuses.

As with any Kickstarter project, backing it is definitely buyer beware. There is a big difference between developing a prototype and scaling up to mass production — just ask the backers of Rite-Press and iGulu. However, if Bottle+ can pull it off, that will be a definite plus for the planet and for soda water addicts like me.

PepsiCo Bringing SodaStream Professional and Unattended C-Stores to College Campuses

In July of last year, during the first wave of the pandemic, PepsiCo introduced the SodaStream Professional connected sparkling water system for offices. At the time we noted that the machine, which reduces the need for single-use platic bottles was a good idea, but its future seemed questionable given that offices were closed. Even now, more than a year later, it’s unclear when or how workers will return to the office, so like any good company, PepsiCo has adapted, and is now bringing its SodaStream Professional to college campuses.

PepsiCo has installed its SodaStream Professional at William and Mary College and College of the Holy Cross (it’s also installed a machine at Dana Hill High School in Dana Point, California), which dispense customizable carbonated water. Customers can choose from a number of flavors, adjust the fizziness of their drinks and even offer up enhancements like electrolytes and vitamin B.

There is an accompanying QR-coded bottle and mobile app that people can use to control the machine. Users download the app and scan the QR code with their phone. At the machine, they scan the bottle’s QR code which allows users to order via the app, contactlessly dispense the drink, and remember certain flavor/fizziness preferences for future drinks. For those without the QR-coded bottle, the machine works with other vessels, and can be controlled with the on-board touchscreen. Pricing for the drinks is dependent on the arrangement made by the university.

The move to colleges is a smart play by PepsiCo, given the unknown future of office work. Schools have re-opened (fingers crossed) and are once again alive with activity on campuses.

But PepsiCo isn’t stopping with the new beverage station. The company has also launched a branded convenience store at Kansas University that features cashierless technology. The new store is powered by New Stand, and is not as high tech as the computer vision + artificial intelligence-powered Amazon Go, so students can’t just grab what they want and walk out. But it does allow users to scan their items with the New Stand mobile app at checkout.

And if that weren’t enough, during a video chat this week, Greg Herman, Sr. Marketing Director, Beverage Innovation – Foodservice at PepsiCo told me that in addition to these programs, PepsiCo is also still running its robot delivery program that it launched back at the start of 2019. That program used small, rover bots from Robby to carry around snacks and beverages that students could order. Herman didn’t provide too many details on the program, but we haven’t heard much about it since launch, so it’s nice to see it’s still going.

Between these programs, cereal dispensing robot vending machines, and 3D printed plant-based meat, colleges are fast becoming hotbeds of food tech innovation.

Singapore: Crown Digital Installing Robot Baristas at 30 MRT Train Stations

Singapore-based Crown Digital announced yesterday that it will be installing its robotic baristas at 30 Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) stations in that country by the end of 2022.

Dubbed “Ella,” Crown Digital’s robo-coffee kiosk is 5 sq. meters, serves a variety of coffee and tea drinks, and can make up to 200 coffees per hour. While Ella uses an articulating arm to make and serve drinks, one of its standout features is its transparent screen that can display information about drinks, orders and even full-motion videos and graphics.

For these MRT installations, Crown Digital has collaborated with Stellar Lifestyle, which has “expertise in property and retail management, media and digital advertising solutions,” according to the Crown Digital announcement blog post. Crown Digital also wrote that Stella Lifestyle has invested an undisclosed sum in Crown Digital’s pre-Series A round of funding.

This is the second rail network that Crown Digital has partnered with, following a pilot deal with Japan’s JR East‘s train stations signed at the end of last year. With their high-traffic audiences looking for refreshment on-the-go, transit hubs like MRT stations and airports are popular target markets for robotic coffee kiosk companies that are just now coming market such as Crown Digital, Smyze, and Cafe X.

Another benefit to robotic coffee baristas in these pandemic times is that they are contactless. Robots don’t get sick, and don’t act as a vector of viral transmission the way that humans do.

While there are a number of robot baristas coming to market, we have yet to see big coffee chains jump into automation. The exception is Costa Coffee, which bought Briggo last year and re-branded those Coffee Hauses into Costa Coffee BaristaBots. Though I suspect that as more deals like Crown Digital’s start popping up, we’ll soon see other big coffee brands like Starbucks and Dunkin add their own robots as well.

I Tried NotCo’s A.I.-Generated Milk Alternative

NotCo, a Chile-based company, is sometimes referred to as the Impossible Foods/Beyond Meat of Latin America. The company produces various alternative products including plant-based mayo, burgers, ice cream, and milk. When they reached out to me recently offering to send samples of their products, I happily accepted.

NotCo uses its patented A.I. platform to determine what plant-based ingredients would best replicate properties found in animal-based ingredients. For example, in its alt-milk products, the two main ingredients are simply water and pea protein. However, there is a small amount of pineapple juice, cabbage juice, sunflower oil, and chicory root, among other natural flavors, added to the milk alternative to bolster its flavor and texture.

The Bezos-backed company sent me a half-gallon of its whole milk and 2 percent milk alternatives. I first poured a small glass of the whole milk and drank it straight up. At first sip, I was surprised by the sweetness of it. Surprisingly, there are only three grams of sugar in a single serving. It had a vanilla flavor with a light aftertaste of coconut. The two percent milk had the same flavor, but tasted a tad bit more watery than the whole milk.

Photo of the alternative whole and two percent milk that was sent to me

I heated some of the whole milk in a pot on the stove and attempted to produce foam with my handheld frother. I had no luck, and the milk was completely flat after frothing for about two minutes. In defense of NotCo, they do not make any claims about their milk’s ability to froth, and I do not have barista-grade equipment. It makes me wonder if the company has plans to develop a “barista version” of its milk that is meant to produce a thick froth for lattes, like many alternative milk companies have done.

NotCo’s whole milk after being heated and frothed

I haven’t had milk for about eight years, but for what it’s worth, NotCo’s NotMilk reminded me of real dairy milk. The sweetness of NotMilk was reminiscent of the sweetness that lactose provides in dairy milk. However, there was something about the NotMilk that still suggested it wasn’t actually dairy. While I couldn’t quite pinpoint the reason, it could very well be the slight aftertaste/mouthfeel of pea protein. Overall, though I would say that NotMilk is a pretty good milk alternative product.

Pea protein, meanwhile, is a popular ingredient in the plant-based space due to its neutral flavor, versatility, and high protein content. It is the second ingredient in NotMilk, and both the whole and 2 percent milk contain four grams of protein in a single serving (one cup). U.S.-based Ripple and Swedish-based Sproud are two other companies that both also produce alternative milk made from pea protein.

NotCo launched its milk in the U.S. last year, and it seems like Oatly will be one of its biggest competitors in the alternative dairy space. Oatly has steadily gained a cult-like following in the U.S. since launching in independent coffee shops in 2016. The Swedish-based company went public this March, and raised $1.4 billion USD through this.

In the U.S., NotCo’s milks are available in stores like Whole Foods, Sprouts, and some independent grocers and retailers. A half-gallon of the alternative whole or two percent milk normally retails for $4.99.

Beverage Tech Company Cirkul Raises $30M in Series B Funding

Cirkul, a beverage technology company, raised $30 million in a Series B round this week according to a press release sent to The Spoon. The round was led by AF Ventures and also saw participation from SC.Holdings, Siddhi Capital, and several other private investors. This brings the Cirkul’s total funding to $41.6 million.

Founded in 2018, Cirkul produces flavor cartridges that can be inserted into its patented water bottles to create a customized drink. Once the cartridges are inserted into the top of the bottle, the consumer can adjust the amount of flavor that is released during each sip. By adding flavor to water, the company’s goal is to encourage people to stay hydrated. The flavors, created from added “natural flavors” range from different fruits to coffee, and some include added electrolytes, vitamins, and other nutrients.

Cirkul’s objective is to offer a wide variety of beverage options while simultaneously reducing the shipping weight, costs, and materials used by beverages packaged in plastic bottles. It is still very common for Americans to drink bottled water and beverages, but there are a plethora of environmental issues associated with plastic packaging. The production of plastic bottles releases harmful pollutants into the air, and unfortunately, more bottles end up in the landfill than at recycling centers. In the landfill, these bottles can take hundreds of years to decompose.

It is estimated that 75 percent of all Americans are chronically dehydrated, so it’s no surprise that tech companies are focused on finding solutions to this. Elkay launched the Smartwell Touchless Countertop Beverage Dispenser earlier this year, a countertop beverage dispenser with 70 custom flavor options to encourage hydration. This past March, Pani launched a crowdfunding campaign for its water filter that also allows the user to add in different flavors.

Cirkul will use this most recent round of funding to accelerate its growth plan and focus on innovation in its product lines. The company’s bottles and cartridges are available as a one-time purchase or as an auto-ship plan on its website.

Civic Technologies Powers Age Verification Tech in New Vending Machine

Something we’ve pondered here at The Spoon is how age verification might work for vending machines that sell beer or booze. We’ve seen other automated alcohol dispensers like Hop Robotics and Rotender rely on the venue where they are installed to have humans do the ID checking (think: a beer garden area at a festival). But Civic Technology announced today a new vending machine that uses blockchain, face mapping and QR codes to verify the age of the purchaser.

The new machine from Civic was developed in conjunction with Black Fire Innovation (a hospitality tech hub created by Caesars Entertainment and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas). It is proof-of-concept only. It currently serves non-alcoholic drinks to Black Fire’s tenants, but it’s meant to show off how Civic’s age verification technology works. Civic wants to show how it can confirm that a user’s ID information is correct and not altered, and that that ID information is being kept private and secure.

To make an age-restricted purchase through the vending machine, a user must first download the Civic Wallet mobile app and register their information. To do so, a user must verify their phone number and email address, and scan their official ID document (Civic works with 4,000 different documents types across 95 countries). Users then must take a 3D selfie to map their face, which Civic then matches with the ID document provided.

At the vending machine, Civic uses Identity.com‘s open-source age verification ecosystem. A QR code is presented to the user, which they scan with the Civic Wallet app. The user then shows their face to the phone which matches that with the verified ID information. It’s important to note that no personal information is being exchanged with the machine. A person’s data is stored on their phone and all that is being transmitted to the vending machine is a yes or no. Either the user is an age verified person making the transaction or not. The transaction then becomes an entry and recorded on using blockchain technology.

The ability for an unattended machine to verify ages before purchases could be a boon to venues like hotels and stadiums. For instance, sales of canned beer and hard seltzers could shift over to a vending machine and free up human workers to focus on more complicated (and profitable) cocktails or other aspects of customer service. Normally when I talk about vending machines, I also tout the fact that they can work around the clock, but in the case of alcohol, that might not be a benefit for everyone.

Civic is one of a few verification systems we’ve seen coming to market. In 2019, Pan Pacific debuted the SmartPan Pro beer vending machine that used finger vein biometrics for verification. Prior to that, CLEAR, of airport security fame, had its own biometric, pay and verify your age with your finger technology at stadiums. Though, one has to wonder if the finger biometric has lost its appeal post-COVID, when retailers are looking for more contactless experiences.

The pandemic has accelerated all kinds of interest in automation and robotics and generally removing human-to-human contact during retail transactions. Unattended age verifying vending machines could certainly be a part of that movement.

Blume Aims to Invigorate Alternative Milk Space with New Adaptogenic Concentrate

The most developed category in the plant-based space is alternative dairy, which is estimated to be worth around $2.5 billion. There is so much development in the sector that it feels like a new type of alternative milk such as Táche’s pistachio milk or Take Two Foods‘ barley milk, pops up every week. You can now add Blume to that list as this week, the Vancouver-based superfood company launched a new concentrated nut milk paste filled with adaptogenic ingredients.

Blume’s Adaptogenic Milk Blend has a similar texture to smooth nut butter, and it comes packaged in a glass jar. The base ingredients include almonds, cashews, coconut, and oats. The concentrate is considered adaptogenic because it contains Reishi, Cordyceps, Lion’s Mane, and Chaga mushrooms, which are supposed to help the body modulate its stress response and increase focus. Adaptogenic ingredients are defined as being able to increase the body’s ability to resist the damaging effects of stress and promote normal physiological functioning.

Many other plant-based milks contain some type of oil that acts as an emulsifier that ensures the milk won’t separate, and also helps it foam. The Adaptogenic Milk Blend does not contain added oil, but according to the company, still has the capacity to foam when used to create a latte. It is recommended to store the concentrate in the fridge after opening, where it will last three to four months.

Photo by Ashlen Wilder

Blume sent me a jar of their Adaptogenic Milk Blend to test out. To make milk, I followed the directions and blended one tablespoon of the concentrate with one cup of water for 20-30 seconds. The result was fresh milk that had a thick foam, and was an interesting light brown color. I took a sip and was immediately disappointed by the off-flavor and lack of creaminess. I tasted nothing like milk, or any type of plant-based milk I had before. Despite the thick foam on top, the rest of the liquid tasted closer to water. Separation occurred almost immediately after blending, and gritty sediment settled at the bottom.

A few other companies have products similar to Blume. JOI and Modest Mylk use various bases of coconut, almond, oat, and cashew to produce a similar nut milk concentrate. Daily Harvest now sells frozen almond milk cubes that can be blended into fresh milk. We have not tried the concentrates from other brands, so cannot attest to how these are.

I like the idea of these concentrated nut milk pastes, and see some of the benefits they offer over plant-based milks that come in cartons. However, if it doesn’t taste good, then it’s not worth it. On top of this, it is more money upfront: $24 for one jar of Blume’s concentrate versus a $4-$5 half-gallon carton of plant-based milk. A jar of Adaptogenic Milk Blend includes 20 servings, which equates to about $1.20 per serving. It’s also an extra step to blend the milk, and I (like most other consumers) are already accustomed to just reaching in the fridge for ready-to-drink milk.

I’ll personally be sticking to prepared plant-based milk for now. If you’re interested in trying out Blume’s Adaptogenic Milk Concentrate for yourself, it is now available for purchase on the company’s website. The company plans on selling it direct-to-consumer for the time being.

Keurig Debuts BrewID Smart Brewing Platform, Launches First WiFi Connected Brewer

Today Keurig, the maker of the omnipresent coffee pod brewing systems, debuted a new smart brewing platform called BrewID.

So what is BrewID? According to the announcement, BrewID is “an all new technology platform designed to support a number of  features, such as the ability to identify a specific K-Cup pod brand from more than 900 pod varieties, including the specific roast, and automatically adjust the brewer’s temperature and strength settings to the specifications to the recommendations of the coffee roasting expert who created it.”

In other words, the new platform will allow Keurig coffee partners to create customized brew settings optimized for each specific roast.

“Every coffee needs a different technique to brew it to its optimized cup size or preference,” Roger Johnson, Keurig’s SVP, Appliance Global product Organization, told me over a zoom call. “And so this technology allows you to center so you understand what the roaster intended and then it’s up to whatever you’d like.”

Johnson said one of the goals of the new brewer with the BrewID platform was to achieve something closer to what you might get from a barista with, say, a pour-over coffee. To achieve that, the new brewer pairs the BrewID with Keurig’s Multistream brewing technology, which in the case of the new brewer, means five streams of water vs just one.

BrewID will make its debut in the company’s first Wi-Fi connected brewer, the K-Supreme Plus Smart Brewer.

I know what some of you are thinking: Coffee pods usually mean a quick, serviceable cup of coffee, but don’t equate to a barista crafted cuppa joe. While you are right, I do think that having a brew tailored for a specific coffee roast makes lots of sense. Dark coffee should be brewed differently than lighter coffee. Arabica beans should get treated differently than Robusta.

And that’s the goal of BrewID. By being connected, the device can access specific brew profiles from Keurig’s network of 75 or so third party roasting partners for specific brew instructions for the 900 or so different types of pods.

The new connected brewer also will have the usual list of benefits of being connected, including app-based programming and control and auto-replenishment. According to Johnson, while Keurig has offered auto-replenishment of pods with some of its earlier models, those models used a time-based system that would order pods at a pre-set interval. With the new Wi-Fi based brewer, pod auto-delivery will be based on usage of pods.

I have to admit, when I first heard the name BrewID, images of Keurig’s ill-fated brew “DRM” technology came to mind. Johnson assured me that Keurig learned their lesson from the Keurig 2.0 system rollout.

“You can brew any pod that you would like,” Johnson told me. “There’s no lockout feature. We celebrate a democratized system.”

Of course, one thing BrewID doesn’t change is the fact Keurig is still, well, a pod system. While Keurig has made big strides in making their pods recyclable – in fact, technically all K-cup pods are now recyclable – whether pods are actually recycled is dependent on consumers actually doing the work. This involves separating the lid, throwing the coffee into the compost and making sure the plastic cup is then put into the right bin. My guess is a lot of consumers still throw the spent pods into the garbage whole, putting plastic into the waste stream.

And while some new grind-and-brew systems like the Spinn do away with the pod altogether and may pose a threat in the future, those systems are still dwarfed by pods, which in 2020 account for a $25 billion market.

So for now, pods are still massive (and growing) business. And, with its new BrewID platform, Keurig is hoping to bring even more coffee drinkers to the pod.

The K-Supreme Plus Smart with BrewID will sell for $199 and will be available this fall.

Uproot is Bringing Plant-Based Milk Dispensers to College Campuses

As a vegan, it is my dream to see plant-based milk options everywhere I go. Most coffee shops are hip to this, but there are certainly still some areas in the foodservice sector that lag behind in the alternative milk game. A start-up called Uproot, based in New York City, has the mission of distributing its alternative milk dispensers to college campuses and beyond.

Jacob Conway and Kevin Eve, the co-founders of Uproot, saw that plant-based dairy options we not accessible on many college campuses. Conventional milk is always an option for cereal and coffee in college cafeterias, but college students often have to ask the chef or cafeteria staff for a plant-based milk option. Dispensers for tea, coffee, and juice drinks already exist in college cafeterias, so it seemed like the logical option to have a dispenser for non-dairy milk.

The Uproot dispensers are given to college campuses, and then the schools must purchase Uproot’s bags of milk. The company produces its own plant-based milk blends, including oat, chocolate pea, and soy. The milks are shelf-stable and are good for 12 months. A 2.5-gallon bag of milk is priced between $28-$30, depending on the flavor and food distributor.

Uproot first launched its bulk dispenser program in March 2020, prior to the start of the pandemic, at Brown University and Wellesley College. The pandemic promptly shut the program down. During this time, Uproot transitioned to offer college campuses packaged 8 oz single-serving containers of its plant-based milks (which are still available for purchase).

College campuses have recently come into the spotlight for becoming a place for food innovation. Chartwells Higher Education announced earlier this year its plans for launching a plant-based dining program (called 100% Plant Forward) and ghost kitchens at colleges nationwide. At the beginning of the summer, Grubhub announced its plans for bringing food delivery robots to college campuses through its partnership with Yandex. Yo-Kai shared at the beginning of this year that it had installed its automated hot ramen vending machines at several college campus locations.

In addition to college campuses, Uproot plans on expanding to K-12 cafeterias, hospitals, and coffee shops. The company will relaunch its dispenser program this fall at Brown University, Roger Williams University, Wellesley
College, Villanova University, Wesleyan University, Bennington College, Bucknell University, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Connecticut College, Johnson and Wales University and Stonehill College.

EBar Raises £670,000 for its Mobile, Automated Beer Vending System

EBar, the Aberdeen, U.K.-based beer vending machine company, announced today that it has raised a £670,000 (~$916,000 USD) equity round of funding. In an email to The Spoon, EBar Managing Director Sam Pettipher said that of the new money, £150,000 (~$205,000 USD) came via equity crowdfunding via the Seedrs platform, £300,000 (~$410,000 USD) came from an Irish events consortium, and the rest came from various investor groups. This brings the total amount raised by EBar to £1.4 million (~$1.9M USD).

Built for large events like soccer matches, festivals, concerts and more, EBar makes high-volume automated beer vending machines. EBar machines offer just two drink options, feature a touchscreen for ordering and can pour a beer in under 30 seconds. EBars are also mobile and meant to move around wherever there are events to create what the company calls beer as a service. Instead of leasing the machine, EBar charges each venue a commission on sales, so there is no upfront cost for set up or installation.

EBar launched its equity crowdfunding campaign earlier this year with the goal of raising £275,001 (~$387,827 USD). Pettipher said the company has closed the equity crowdfunding campaign and has moved on to the execution phase of its business, getting fleets of units out and growing the team.

EBar is part of a growing movement towards automating beer service, especially at large events. Macco Robotics, Revolmatic and Hop Robotics all make automated beer pouring machines that can dispense beers in seconds. This type of automation could potentially be huge for events and venues because a robot can churn out hundreds of drinks in an hour without stopping. Human bartenders could then shift their focus to selling more complex (and expensive) mixed cocktails, and would allow event attendees to spend less time in line for drinks.

The bigger question hanging over all of these services isn’t the functionality of the technology, it’s when large events will be able to come back in full force. With the COVID-19 Delta variant flaring up around the world, the pandemic is far from being over. Sporting events and concerts are making a comeback, but there is the constant threat of them being shut down again in the fight against the virus.

Rise of the Beer Robots!

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Beer is the pizza of beverage automation.

Previously, I’ve noted that if you want to see the future of food tech, you should look at pizza. From robot assembly to self-driving vehicle (and drone!) delivery to vending machines, pizza tends to be a vanguard for innovation.

Just as pizza paves the way for interesting food technology, beer appears to be the beverage to watch when you want to know where drink automation is heading.

Consider two news bits we highlighted on The Spoon this week:

Part of what makes these two stories of note is that the companies featured are on opposite ends of the spectrum. Hop Robotics is a small, one-man operation that only has one commercial prototype; Heineken is a giant global using robotics basically as a promotional gimmick. (You can enter to win its Beer Outdoor Transporter.) Regardless of their intentions, both companies are looking to make it easier and faster for you to grab a brew.

Hop and Heineken aren’t alone in this endeavor to speed up beer service, as we’ve steadily seen other automation startups come to market. In the U.K., EBar makes big, mobile vending machines meant for events and large venues that will pour a pint in under 30 seconds. The Revolmatic comes out of Poland, and is a countertop machine with a rotating tray that can dispense 450 beers an hour. Macco Robotics in Spain is taking a slightly different approach, employing a humanoid robot with arms to pour your beer in 23 seconds.

All of these machines are meant for events and large gatherings (sports, concerts, conferences) and, when set up in age-restricted areas, can act as unattended beer retail operations. This is helpful in a couple of ways. First, these robots can take over the grunt work of just pouring hundreds of beers an hour. These speedy workhorse machines can help customers spend less time in line for drinks and more time at their event. Automation can reduce overages with consistent, perfectly portioned pours, saving money and reducing waste. These robots also free up human bartenders to focus on more complicated drinks and customer service. And finally, while we are coming out of this pandemic (fingers crossed), venues and retailers will still be looking for and adopting contactless technologies that reduce human-to-human interaction.

Beer isn’t the only beverage getting the automation treatment. Both Rotender and Celia robots are making mixed cocktails, and Botrista just raised $10 million this week for its cloud-connected mocktail and fusion drink dispenser. But I think we’ll see the most automation activity in the beer space. I mean, beer is a huge market. According to the National Beer Wholesalers Association, 2020 U.S. retail sales of beer and malt-based beverages was $100 billion, and that was during a pandemic, when restaurants, bars and stadiums were closed. (Sales were $120 billion in 2019.) And for automation startups, a beer machine is just easier to make because it doesn’t require as many mechanical bits and bobs that are needed to make cocktails (ice, different bottles of booze, mixers, etc.).

Perhaps what’s most fun about Hop Robotics is its size. If one guy in South Carolina can build a working beer robot in his garage, imagine what well-funded companies will create. Whatever the future brings, beer and pizza night will never be the same.

Image via Vegano.

More Headlines

Vegano Launches an All-Vegan E-Commerce Grocery Marketplace in Canada – For now, the service operates in the Metro Vancouver area as well as Squamish and Whistler. The company said it plans to expand to Toronto and Montreal by the end of this year in addition to heading Stateside and launching in Los Angeles.

Czech Online Grocer Rohlik Raises $119M, Its Second Nine-Digit Round This Year – This funding comes just months after Rohlik raised a €190 million (~$230 million USD) Series B round in March of this year. This brings the total amount of funding raised by Rohlik to nearly $380 million.

AiFi and Trigo CEOs Weigh in on When Cashierless Checkout Will Go Mainstream – TL;DR, look for most major cities to have at least one next year, with more saturation coming in ten years.

Farm.One Launches a New Vertical Farming Facility in Brooklyn – The space will grow various microgreens as well as herbs and some flowers. All crops are grown using the hydroponic method and artificial lighting, with plants harvested “hours before delivery,” according to the company.

Miso and Lancer Worldwide Aim to Automate Beverage Dispensing for QSRs

Miso Robotics is making moves to expand its restaurant automation beyond fryers and grills into QSR beverage stations. Last week Miso announced a partnership with Lancer Worldwide, a global manufacturer of beverage dispensers, to develop an automated, intelligent system designed to speed up and organize drink orders.

The forthcoming beverage dispenser will integrate with a QSR’s POS system, so when a drink order comes in the machine will grab the right size cup, fill it with ice, pour the ordered drink and seal it. Additionally, the system will intelligently group drink orders together under color-coded LED lighting, so its easier for an cashier to place them with the correct order.

The machine is still in the prototyping stage, so the exact size and form factor are still yet to be worked out. It will, however, hold 24 flavors of carbonated and non-carbonated drinks. Details around pricing and business model (lease versus direct sale) have yet to be worked out as well.

Miso Robotics and Lancer Worldwide automated beverage dispenser demo

Up to now, Miso has been best known for Flippy, the robot that grills burgers and works the deep fryer at restaurants. The company also recently released a camera+software product called CookRight that allows smaller restaurants to get the same precise automated cooking of Flippy without the need for a robot installation. But honestly? While the details still need to worked out, this beverage robot could be a much bigger business for Miso than Flippy.

Not every QSR or restaurant serves burgers or deep fried foods — but they all offer drinks. Flippy requires installation in kitchens (that are big enough to begin with) that can limit exactly where human workers can stand and walk to avoid the robot as it moves about. The Miso/Lancer beverage dispenser will fit on a countertop and, based on how its described, easily slide into a QSR employee’s existing workflow.

The new dispenser is also arriving at the right time. Big QSR brands like Burger King, Chipotle, Shake Shack, KFC and more are pivoting to more drive-thru centric model and long wait times to pick up orders are a “dealbreaker” for customers. Adding automation to the beverage portion of an order could speed up expediting times, and if tied into AI-based ordering systems, human workers could spend less time placing cups under spigots and more time on customer service and other more complicated tasks.