Pleto Robotics Co., Ltd. (CEO Park No-seop), which was selected in the daily consumption field of the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA)’s ‘2023 non-face-to-face leading service activation project in areas closely related to daily life’, has been involved in high-speed laser printers since its predecessor, ‘Daeyoung Information System’ in 1998. It is a company that has developed various solutions and systems, and is currently introducing a latte art 3D printing solution to the industry that combines ICT technology in line with the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution.
We are presenting a new business model to the domestic F&B (Food & Beverage) market by introducing the latte art 3D printer ‘Folletto’ and the AI (artificial intelligence) barista robot ‘Cafe Zinho’ that can make latte art. there is. In particular, the company explains that Cafe Jinho, which is currently considered its flagship product, has recently completed development of the second generation model and is accelerating its expansion of suppliers.
Cafe Jinho is an automated robot that produces drinks by imitating the latte art technique of a skilled barista, and can perform various movements based on its robot arm. After latte art work, a self-cleaning system is applied that cleans the main body using a built-in steam feature. Water over 70℃ is used for cleaning, effectively suppressing bacterial growth and making hygienic beverages possible.
In addition, a cap closing function that covers the finished beverage with a lid is also implemented, which can be expected to prevent loss of beverage temperature and protect the beverage from pests and foreign substances. Furthermore, recently, the company has focused on improving the taste of the drink by performing calibration work through AI (artificial intelligence) to enable optimized espresso extraction by combining the surrounding temperature and humidity, roasting time of the coffee beans, and extraction timing. placed.
An official from Pleto Robotics said, “The domestic F&B market is suffering from a complex manpower shortage as the workforce is steadily naturally decreasing due to aging and low birth rates, labor costs are rising, and the pool of professional service personnel such as baristas is shrinking.” “Coffee manufacturing and latte art automation solutions, such as Pleto and Cafe Jinho, were developed to solve these problems, and can respond flexibly to trends such as increased demand for specialty products that require specialized taste and service,” he added.
He continued, “With our unique technical capabilities and content differentiation, we succeeded in attracting investment from Doosan Robotics, Hyosung TNS, and Korea Rental, and with unique marketing and innovative robot technology, we aim to present a new paradigm in the coffee robot market that has gone through a period of commercialization.” “In addition, we plan to seek entry into the U.S. and various regional markets through the investment company’s solid sales network and follow-up network in the U.S.,” he added.
Meanwhile, the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA, Director Heo Seong-wook) aims to promote the distribution of non-face-to-face services in areas closely related to people’s daily lives, such as business, daily consumption, education/evaluation, and well-being/health in the pandemic era. We are pursuing a ‘service revitalization project’. Starting in 2021, as the non-face-to-face digital economy accelerates across the economy and society in response to the great digital transformation in the post-corona era, this project will select and support key investment areas focusing on services that urgently require non-face-to-face transformation. Pleto Robotics was selected in the daily consumption category.