Taiwanese hand-made beverages are highly popular. But have you tried fruit teas prepared by robots? The new tea beverage brand Robotea is a groundbreaking player in the market. It is the first to deploy a locally developed robotic arm to work on Taiwanese beverage preparation. Made with fully automated technology, the beverage products are infused up with extraordinary “AI” flavors, delighting the picky taste buds of Hong Kong people.
Taiwanese made-to-order beverage outlets took Hong Kong by storm over the past few years. While these shops mushroomed in our neighborhoods, it also means that standing out in the heated market - where hundreds of brands are fighting for their shares – is highly challenging. Robotea was founded by Raymond Tse and his nephew Sammy Tse in 2019. Combining “Robo” and “tea”, the Robotea brand quickly made a name for itself after the store opened and is now fondly loved by young people who crave novelty.
A pioneer in robot tea
“I had this casual chat with a friend about running Taiwanese beverage stores. He was troubled by the common problem in the food and beverage sector. Turnover has been high and staff retention is very difficult owing to the laborious job nature and long hours. As I produce and design machinery and equipment, I had this wonderful idea. What if we have robots do the preparation? With manpower issues resolved and consistent product quality assured, it is well worth a try. And then, Robotea was born.”
Robotea has a cozy store front and two eye-catching robotic arms that take care of tea preparation. Customers can order their preferred beverages through a self- service kiosk and then complete the order with cashless payment. The robotic arms then take the order and prepare the beverage in as little as 20 seconds. To satisfy customers’ curiosity and interest in watching the robots work, however, the preparation cycle is adjusted to around 1 minute. “Taiwanese beverage stores are everywhere but having robots to prepare them is new. We are unique and can’t be found anywhere else.”
A “factory guy” and a forerunner of karaoke
Raymond studied mechanical engineering and his early career was spent on product development. When video recorders came about, he tapped into the market of videotape production and distribution. In fact, he was the first person to introduce karaoke to the Chinese market. “Japan was one of my frequent business destinations. After realizing how popular karaoke was, I lined up talks with the Hong Kong music publisher Polygram and suggested we work together and produce Chinese karaoke laser discs. I remember our first rundown featured the songs of Alan Tam and Tanimura Shinji. It was a huge success and quickly became a big trend in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.”
Subsequently, Raymond opened a factory to produce laser discs. He also moved on to producing high-tech products such as the FPC (flexible printed circuit) boards of mobile phones following rapid technology advancement. According to Raymond, the idea of Robotea had originated from a Taiwanese partner. “He used robotic arms to produce medicines and contact lenses. The two processes require a high level of cleanliness, which is quite similar to beverage preparation. I knew that would be a perfect solution and began developing our own robotic arms.”
Hardware aside, the operation programming behind the robotic arm was the greatest challenge. Water temperature and brewing time must be adjusted for different recipes. The ratio of flavored jams, ice and tea must also be set right. Complex commands must be simplified and integrated into an intuitive electronic vending machine interface. Every detail must be precisely defined, and no mistake is allowed. In fact, the AI system of Robotea is the fruition of research and development by the other founder, Sammy, who spent two years working on it.
Big data management and a masterplan
The store has been running for two years and business is gradually on track. Raymond commented that Robotea is not only cost-effective but also provides lots of convenience in terms of management. “Thanks to the mobile phone app that we developed in-house, we do not have to be physically present at the store to retrieve sales figures from different time periods. Big data analysis can also help us gain accurate insights into customers’ preferences, and then help us roll out targeted sales strategies.” For example, the menu is now enriched with hot dogs, ice creams and other snacks to suit the palate of students and other younger customers.
Robotea opened in 2019, but it soon suffered hard blows from the social incident and the pandemic. These took the brand by surprise. Raymond shared that their initial plan was to open five outlets in some of the high foot-traffic neighborhoods in Hong Kong, including Mongkok, Causeway Bay, as well as tourist locations such as the airport, the cruise terminal, etc. Although they have no choice but to stall these plans for the moment, Robotea have received inquiries from Canada, Australia, UK and even Russia. There were plans to franchise Robotea throughout the world. Yet, the brand cannot do much to expand its reach amidst COVID. “We have many other ideas in store. For example, a robot ice cream seller, a robot barista or a robot mixologist, etc. I think all these have a lot of potentials. We could only hope that COVID will leave us soon. Then, we can put these ideas into action and launch them to the market.”
