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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

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The Great Vending Reinvention: The Spoon’s Smart Vending Machine Market Report

Thanks to advances in hardware, the internet of things, and food preparation, vending machines today are basically restaurants in a box. They offer high-end cuisine in minutes, require minimal setup time, and have the on-board computing smarts to manage inventory and communicate any issues that arise.

With these capabilities, it’s no wonder the vending machine category was valued at more than $30 billion in 2018, according to Grandview Research, and was anticipated to have a CAGR of 9.4 percent from 2019 through 2025.

Had this report been written even just a few months ago, the main takeaway would have been that vending machines are perfect for high-traffic areas that operate around the clock: airports, corporate offices, college dorms, and hospitals.

But we’re living in a world continuously being shaped and reshaped by the COVID-19 global pandemic. Right now, some form of shelter-in-place orders blanket most of the U.S. Global air travel volume has plummeted, so airports are not busy. Non-essential businesses are closed and people are working from home, not office buildings. And colleges may not hold in-person classes until 2021.

While on the surface, those factors suggest vending machine companies will be yet-another sector wiped out by coronavirus, there has actually never been a better time for the automated vending machine industry. The small footprint and high-end food these devices offer are perhaps more important than ever at a time when minimizing human-to-human contact in foodservice is paramount to doing business. That makes the vending machine market uniquely positioned to capitalize on a post-pandemic world.

This report will define what the automated vending machine space is, list the major players, and present the challenges and opportunities for the market going forward.

Companies profiled in this report include Alberts, API Tech/Smart Pizza, Basil Street, Blendid, Briggo, Byte Technology, Cafe X, Chowbotics, Crown Coffee, Farmer’s Fridge, Fresh Bowl, Le Bread Xpress, Macco Robotics, TrueBird, and Yo-Kai Express.

This research report is exclusive for Spoon Plus members. You can learn more about Spoon Plus here.

Here’s The Spoon’s 2019 Food Robotics Market Map

Today we head to San Francisco for The Spoon’s first-ever food-robotics event. ArticulAte kicks off at 9:05 a.m. sharp at the General Assembly venue in SF, and throughout the daylong event talk will be about all things robots, from the technology itself to business and regulatory issues surrounding it. When you stop and look around the food industry, whether it’s new restaurants embracing automation or companies changing the way we get our groceries, it’s easy to see why the food robotics market is projected to be a $3.1 billion market by 2025. But there’s no one way to make a robot, and so to give you a sense of who’s who in this space, and to celebrate the start of ArticulAte, The Spoon’s editors put together this market map of the food robotics landscape. This is the first edition of this map, which we’ll improve and build upon as the market changes and grows. If you have any suggestions for other companies or see ones we missed you think should be in there, let us know by leaving a comment below or emailing us at tips@thespoon.tech. Click on the map below to enlarge it. The Food Robotics Market 2019:

Truebird to Launch Five Robot Micro-Cafes in NYC This Year

When we first wrote about Truebird, the quiet NYC startup building automated micro-cafes, we didn’t have many details about the company or its go-to market strategy. But I had the chance to chat with Truebird Co-Cofounder and CEO Josh Feuerstein this week, who shared with me some more information about Truebird and how his barista ‘bot fit into the competitive robo-coffee landscape.

THE ROBOT
The first thing I asked him about was about the robotic design Truebird chose. Instead of an articulating arm or a series of rails and grippers, Truebird uses magnetic “pucks” that cradle coffee cups to slide them around a glass surface. While soothing to watch, it didn’t seem to be a particularly fast method for a machine meant to sling morning cups of joe to busy people in high-traffic areas.

“We chose them for a variety of reasons,” said Feuerstein, “Chief among them, we think it is a surprisingly warm and approachable and almost magical experience. For us the experience is really important.” He went on to say that while they are designing for an elegant experience the company is “very happy” with the throughput of the machine.

The machines themselves are smaller than competitors like Briggo and Cafe X. They fit through a standard door and don’t require any plumbing, so Truebirds can be installed easily and in a wide variety of locations.

Truebird Micro-cafe

GO-TO MARKET
Truebird is focusing on New York initially, and will deploy five of its micro-cafes throughout the city by the end of this year. While the company is still determining its pricing and business model, it is a B2B play and will partner with high-volume locations like hotels, hospitals, office buildings, etc. The machines will be owned and operated by Truebird, so the company will be responsible for stocking, maintenance and service.

Feuerstein said that at some point, Truebird will probably open a location that is its own dedicated space with “four walls.”

THE COFFEE
Unlike Briggo, Truebird isn’t going so far as to select and roast its own beans (though Feuerstein didn’t rule out that possibility). Instead, the company is working with roasters in the New York area. Truebird doesn’t offer the same variety of drinks as Briggo or Cafe X as it only carries traditional dairy milk and oat milk.

THE COMPANY
Truebird is 100 percent backed by Alleycorp and has 15 employees.

Geographically speaking, there are now three high-profile coffee robot companies across the U.S. Truebird in NYC, Briggo in Austin, TX, and Cafe X in San Francisco. This doesn’t need to be a zero-sum game as there are plenty of locations around the country that could use a coffee robot to caffeinate consumers. Heck, the San Francisco Airport alone is getting two coffee robots this year. The only question remaining is which robot serves up the tastiest lattes.

If you’re interested in the future of coffee and food robots, you should definitely come to our ArticulATE Summit in San Francisco on Tuesday. C-level speakers from both Briggo and Cafe X will be there. But we literally only have a handful of tickets left, so get yours today!

Truebird Bringing its Robot-Barista Coffee to NYC

It’s the stones. They move like magic in Truebird‘s robot barista demo video, gliding across a glass surface to cradle and transport cups of coffee and lattes to waiting customers (go ahead and watch it down below, it’s mesmerizing). We’ve seen our fair share of coffee robots here at The Spoon, and at first glance, Truebird’s appears to be the least robotic.

We can’t tell you much about Truebird because not much has been written and they aren’t giving much information away. But they are a food (well, coffee) robot company, and food robots and automation are poised to drastically change how we buy our daily meals and beverages. So Truebird is a company we’ll keep an eye on, but for now, here’s what we do know:

Truebird creates automated micro-cafes, similar to Briggo and Cafe X. From the company’s Linkedin page:

We are for the busy people who love and appreciate high quality coffee, and are increasingly curious about where it comes from, and the caring hands that touched it. Through our micro-cafes, Truebird is a serene destination that provides a treat in the form of delicious coffee and a more elevated experience – but delivered efficiently, conveniently, and at a fair price for the busy individual on the move.

Truebird piloted its prototype for three months at New Lab in Brooklyn, and the company’s site says “The next Truebird evolution is coming to select NYC locations later this year.”

Truebird is backed by AlleyCorp, a New York based incubator that also backed MongoDB, DoubleClick and Business Insider.

Truebird Micro-cafe

Like Cafe X and Briggo, Truebird isn’t just about the robotics. It’s also focused on quality coffee. The company lists its own coffee program manager as an employee, but how involved in the coffee part of the equation is it? Is it like Briggo, which roasts its own beans, or more like Cafe X which highly curates the coffee it offers?

We reached out to Truebird to find out more, and will update when we hear back.

What is apparent is that each of these robot coffee companies is creating its own form factor and presenting its version of automation to customers in different ways. Cafe X has its articulating arm front and center and theatricality is part of its design. Briggo’s Coffee Haus, on the other hand hides all the complex machinery. If Truebird’s prototype is any indication, its robotics are more subtle (and with the stones perhaps even more artful), but are also meant to be watched in action.

The question is how fast those stones will be able to move. The whole point of a robot-barista is to sling drinks of consistent quality in high-traffic areas, like airports. While the stones are hypnotic, they won’t calm an impatient commuter waiting on their caffeine. Truebird, however, seems to recognize this, as its own copy reads that it’s for the “busy individual on the move.”

Busy individuals who are curious about the future of robot-made coffee should come to our ArticulATE food robot summit happening on April 16 in San Francisco. We’ll have the Founder and CTO of Briggo as well as the COO of Cafe X speaking, so it’s sure to be something you won’t want to miss!