This week we at Sprudge received two press releases regarding the upcoming waves of automation in the coffee shop space. And it really made me think.
Automation is a double-edged sword. It can remove tasks from employees’ plates to allow them to focus on other, possibly more impactful, parts of the job. But companies are not charities or families, and once a machine can tick the boxes that constitute a job function, that job will simply cease to exist.
Of course, only half the story is told when extolling the virtues of automation, at least publicly. Human security remains less clear. But it is there, hidden between the lines or lurking one step before the inevitable conclusion of cause and effect. And as technology continues its crusade to disrupt the coffee industry, and despite what the PR fodder would have you believe – or at least prefer you not to think – it is ultimately workers who bear the brunt.
It’s a familiar textbook, full of shiny half-truths and conclusions – laundered and washed, ready to be consumed without scruples. This is Madlib marketing.
[Person] [does action] afferent [consequence] This [product] corrections, so yes [consumer benefit].
We saw this with Atomo, the “molecular” coffee machine, of which this publication was highly critical.
[Producer] [grows coffee] afferent [deforestation] This [Atomo] corrections, so yes [you can feel good about your consumption].
(We won’t go into all the ways this is greenwashing and ultimately ineffective even for its intended purpose, but if you want to learn about it, you can read about it here.)
But now that technological gibberish has eliminated the need for coffee growers, it should come as no surprise that the same tactics are now being used against those most vulnerable at the end of the supply chain: baristas. Last week it was a so-called start-up p!ngcreator of a fully automatic coffee machine. See if you can spot Madlib.
“[p!ng] aims to revolutionize the way people get their daily dose of caffeine by offering a reliable on-site coffee experience, with no waiting time and no risk of human error.”
[Baristas] [are slow and inaccurate] afferent [wait times and wrong orders] This [p!ng] corrections, so yes [consumers get correct drinks faster].
As with Atomo, it sounds nice and good when you allow the claims to uncritically influence the lizard parts of your brain. But everything begins to erode under even the slightest scrutiny. For the logical purpose to be fulfilled here, we must place the blame for the occasional bad drink – apparently the real scourge of the industry – on the baristas. Unlike human baristas, the point must be made, human customers never make a mistake or misunderstand what they are ordering, and will certainly admit to making a mistake if they actually do. (Macchiato does not exist in this world). We also have to assume that machines – and for some reason artificial intelligence – can not only prepare drinks faster than humans, which they probably can, but in such a way that with five or ten customers arriving at the same time, waiting times are “almost no”. I assume the laws of three-dimensional space and time still apply to automated rides, although I could be wrong. Jordan used to have to wait for Briggo, but I know things change quickly.
The truth is that it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that you distort and denigrate first. And if the problem doesn’t exist, mask it a little until it does. “Waiting time from 20 to 45 minutes!” “1 in 10 orders are incorrect!”
The consumer is not always the declared beneficiary of automation, sometimes it is the barista. However, the secret conclusion is always the same. That’s the power of pressure Side work“a fresh dispenser designed to handle billions of convoluted beverage varieties with speed and precision, enabling baristas to prioritize customer service.” Of course, this ties in with the familiar claims that baristas are inexact and sluggish, but it wisely places the blame on the contemporary problem of complicated drink orders. If baristas don’t have to worry about making complicated drinks, they can focus on that senior, familiar refrain: community.
[Baristas] [are slow and inaccurate] afferent [wait times and wrong orders] This [Sidework] corrections, so yes [baristas can provide a more engaging experience].
Based in Fresh York Gregory’s coffee agreed to this idea and launched over 50 Sidework beverage dispensers in its locations throughout the country. (The brand is part Kitchen Fund“a growth equity investor that provides capital, connections and know-how to facilitate brands bring their stories, ethos and recipes to consumers around the world.” Founder and CEO Gregory Zamfotis – whom we spoke to in 2016 when the brand only had 19 stores in and around Fresh York – was even included as part of PR aims to extol its virtues, hitting all the copy points along the way.
“The dispenser fulfills beverage orders quickly and accurately, reducing waiting times and order errors,” he is quoted in the press. “Not only have we improved the quality of our service, but we have also been able to expand our menu to provide our regulars with more options. Sidework has been a great partner for us and we look forward to continuing to grow with them.”
Sidework co-founder and CEO Rishabh Kewalramani shares similar ideas. “Customers are demanding convoluted and customizable beverages, and venues need to meet this demand without burdening staff. The Sidework Dispenser makes this possible by allowing baristas to focus on often overlooked but nonetheless essential human interactions while technology takes care of preparing drinks.”
This all sounds great. Third-place cafes with baristas free from the burden of preparing drinks who can take the lead in building community. This is usually the part where I would advise you to read between the lines and see what the next logical step is, except Sidework has gone ahead and – the quiet part said loudly on their website.
“Our mission at Sidework is to facilitate companies thrive in an increasingly convoluted beverage landscape. With an average ROI of 200-300%, our dispenser is designed not only to improve service, but also and increasing revenues.”
Customer service and human interaction, profitability and reduced labor costs. It’s all a trick, a little revelation meant to distract from the unexpected reality behind the magic. Abracadabra, the machine made your work easier! But what if, with all these fresh machines, we really don’t need that staff, do we? What if it meant that some of those annoying monthly labor costs just started…disappearing?
The truth is that technology and automation are merely tools that a company can exploit as it sees fit. They do not have free will, they are morally agnostic. Tools can be good! They can actually make our lives easier. They can shine a pointed lightweight on what matters most to businesses. Is it about people, like all the demands for sanitized copying that we take at face value? Or maybe it’s a profit? Automate a few processes and see if the tasks are better or just fewer.
Meanwhile, it’s coffee professionals, in this case baristas, who will suffer from the coming wave of coffee shop automation. And not only those who lost their jobs. The desire for disruption flattens the quality of work, reducing it only to the result. A drink is a drink. You do it, the machine does it, who cares, it doesn’t matter. It necessarily reduces the barista’s job to unskilled labor, a sluggish and imperfect monolith producer who can’t compare to any mechanized version they sell – all the more guilty of their own death thanks to a well-made bar – true, a PR blowout.
Technology, automation, it’s inevitable. It will come whether we like it or not. However, how we exploit it remains to be determined. We’re all for coffee technology making coffee shops run more smoothly, but when we start talking about eliminating the farmer or the barista, reducing those human elements of the coffee experience to labor costs on an endowment general ledger spreadsheet, that’s where you give up. But the worst part of it all is allowing disruptive forces to dictate terms through disingenuous greening or community laundering. It’s like we’re automating opening Pandora’s box.
