As people return to sporting and live events, they won’t have to wait as long for a beer. Well, they won’t have to wait as long in Europe, because a number of robotic beer-pouring solutions are coming to market there.
The latest entrant to the robo-beer pouring space is EBar, a startup based in Aberdeen, United Kingdom, which makes what is essentially a beer dispensing vending machine. From the video description (see below), the EBar is more about volume than variety. There are just two kegs plugged into the back of the machine, so don’t expect an extensive menu of artisanal beer choices. Customers order via on-board touchscreen, take cups from the built-in dispenser and place them in the machine. The EBar then pours out what looks like a pretty perfect cup of a beer, complete with appropriately-sized foamy head, in under 30 seconds.
The EBar is built for large venues like stadiums and outdoor festivals, where people want their drinks quickly and don’t care as much about whether the beer they are getting is an IPA or a Stout. Additionally, since there is no server, the machine reduces the amount of human-to-human contact when getting a drink — an important factor in this emerging post-pandemic world.
EBar calls its business model Beer as a Service. Rather than installing and leasing machines in a single location, they move the machines around from venue to venue and charge a commission on all the sales. This is a smart play for the company because potential venues don’t have to spend money up front for the machine, and EBar can look at the data to determine which are the best events/times/locations to set up their machines to maximize revenue.
EBar is in the middle of an equity crowdfunding campaign and aiming to raise £275,001 (~$387,827 USD). The company says that despite the pandemic shutting most events down in 2020, its machines were still being used by thousands of customers. As venues re-open and people return to sporting events and concerts, it’s easy to see how having multiple EBars on-hand could come in handy. (This news post should not be considered investment advice.)
Europe appears to be a hotbed of automated beer pouring activity. In Poland, the Revolmatic is a smaller, counterop machine also built for large events that cranks out cups of beer. And over in Spain, Macco Robotics’ humanoid Kime robot pours beer, but isn’t really built as much for speed and volume.
Large events are actually good use cases for automation because attendees are at a venue to see a concert or a game, not stand in long lines for drink.
If you want to know more about the future of vending machines, then be sure to attend ArticulATE, our food robotics and automation summit on May 18. We’ll have speakers from smart vending companies like Yo-Kai Express, Rotender and Calvary Robotics. Get your ticket today!
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