In the United States, coffee giant Starbucks wants to halve the time it takes to make a customer’s Frappuccino and it’s turning to automation to do it.
At its widely anticipated annual investor day, Starbucks demonstrated new equipment that can cut the average time it takes to make a Frappuccino from almost a minute and a half to just over 30 seconds, simply by adding an automated ice dispenser and whipped cream dispenser and removing the need to bend down to scoop ice from a bucket.
The technology is being dubbed the proprietary siren system and while it might sound like it’s designed to eliminate barista jobs due to staffing shortages, outgoing Starbucks COO John Culver clarified that the purpose is to make baristas’ jobs easier and less tiresome, so they have more energy to pour into drink creation and customer interactions.
The company announced is it investing $450 million in equipment automation.
