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You're going to be seeing a whole lot more of Ella, the robotic barista from Crown Coffee.
After making appearances at Plaza Singapura and Japan, Ella will soon be serving coffee at 30 MRT stations in Singapore by this year.
The new concept is called Bytes Station, and the first outlet launched at Raffles Place MRT station on February 28. Here's your first look at it:
Largely a grab-and-go situation
Spanning 36 square metres, the Bytes Station outlet is compact and occupies a former Starbucks outlet (there's a delicious irony here).
There are a few seats and tables available, but for most patrons, this will largely be a grab-and-go situation.
Courtesy of Bytes Station.
Image credit: Joshua Lee
The main star of the show is Ella, the robotic barista that can serve up to 200 cups of coffee in an hour. Watching the robot do its work is honestly quite mesmerising.
Image credit: Joshua Lee
Completely contactless ordering process
Another novelty factor: the whole process of buying your coffee from Bytes Station is completely contactless. You don't speak to or engage a human being at all—perfect if you're the sort who would go out of your way to avoid human interaction.
You'll need to download the Ella app (available on the Play Store and App Store) to make an order.
Image credit: Joshua Lee.
Once you're in the app, you can select your location (right now, there are only two available: Raffles Place MRT and Plaza Singapura) and browse the menu.
Make your payment (you can use Google Pay or a debit/credit card) and wait for Ella to make your order.
Once it is ready, you will receive an SMS with a link to a QR code. Scan the QR code at Bytes Station and collect your order. Ella is available 24 hours a day for coffee orders.
If ordering in-app isn't your cup of tea (haha), not to worry. Bytes Station has an ordering kiosk that you can tap to your heart's delight.
Image credit: Joshua Lee
Good coffee, substantial fare
But what of the food? The iced Americano I had was good—definitely not vending machine quality even though it was made by a machine.
According to Keith Tan, the CEO and founder of Crown Digital which operates Bytes Station, it is his roots in Crown Coffee which accounts for the quality of the coffee offered.
"We are the ones from a cafe (Crown Coffee). We started knowing how to make coffee. Then we designed Ella based on our experience as a cafe operator. It was internal (perspective), not from an outsider trying to solve an industry issue."
In fact, Crown Digital is the first Singaporean startup to receive equity investment from the East Japan Railway Company (JR East)—a feat that Tan credits to a combination of three things which Crown Digital does well: Robotics (Ella), UI system (the app), and coffee.
If you're looking for some food to go with your coffee, Bytes Station offers some rather interesting sandwiches including a Jalapeño Ribeye Croissant (S$11.90) and a Rendang Ribeye Ciabatta (S$11.90). They are very substantial and can be a meal in itself for some.
You can order these in-app or at a counter manned by staff at the Raffles Place MRT outlet.
Image credit: Joshua Lee
All in, getting a coffee at Bytes Station was a pretty novel experience and I can see why it would appeal to people on the go.
By the end of this year, Bytes Station will be serving coffee in 30 MRT stations although depending on the space available, not every outlet will have an accompanying counter staff by real humans.
Tan also let on that Crown Digital is currently exploring using Ella to make sandwiches.
This is part of a collaboration with a partner whom Tan is not yet ready to reveal except to say that it is a "very, very, very big equipment manufacturer" who hails from Europe.
Guess you got to watch this space.
Otherwise stated, photos are courtesy of Crown Digital.
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