The burgeoning “robot bartender” category is set to expand if a new Kickstarter campaign succeeds in raising US$260,000 to launch the Foxtender cocktail dispenser.
Said to be the “world’s first automatic bar station” which can “eliminate the concept of waiting in line for a drink”, the machine provides drinks in 16 seconds and features a pay interface and ID recognition system.
Foxtender has been invented by San Diego-based company Young Fox, founded by Matteo Benevento and Danilo Condello, and is targeted towards high volume bars and clubs.
“Foxtender is designed to fulfill not only customers’ expectations, but it has been created to provide the best services for club owners and managers, too,” the Kickstarter campaign reads.
Bar owners are able to customise tanks in the machine, the kinds of drinks it offers, doses and prices.
Foxtender, described as “robust and solid”, has an in-built payment system that works with wristbands or through a specially designed app that saves customers’ credit card details.
“Dispensing a cocktail happens incredibly fast and the smart interface is very easy to use; drinks are always cold and tasty, thanks to the refrigeration system,” the campaign continued.
“Every detail has been studied carefully, from the elevated position of dispensing zone, to the ergonomic position of every physical object that needs an interaction with the customer.”
The machine also features a “stay safe” function that limits the number of cocktails served per hour and per night for each user.
Funds raised through the Kickstarter campaign will be used to “scale up production” and improve existing features ahead of plans to manufacture the first batch of machines.
The Foxtender patent has been registered in Italy and is pending in the US.
A number of spirits and cocktail entrepreneurs have sought expansion through crowd funding in recent months – as these top 10 projects shows.
Source: Spirits Business