New-Age milk steaming technology replacing baristas in Melbourne cafes

Hundreds of Melbourne cafes are replacing baristas with futuristic tech to help stop coffee prices rising above $6 a cup and to manage skyrocketing wages.

Hundreds of Melbourne cafes are replacing baristas with new-age tech to help stop coffee prices rising above $6 a cup and to manage skyrocketing wages.

The automated milk steamers are said to save cafes “thousands a week” and up to $60,000 a year by replacing one barista during the morning rush.

Cafe giants, such as Mulberry Group and Only Hospitality, are splashing big dollars on the gear-— with some costing as much as $15,000 — to deliver consistent results and turn a profit in the long run.

Only Hospitality boss Julien Moussi, who runs Inglewood Coffee Roasters, said while the initial output was expensive, it was worth it.

“We’d need two baristas in the morning to do 450 coffees, but with this we only need one,” he said.

Moussi, a barista-by-trade, has been using automated milk steamers at his Sorrento business, and is so impressed with the result he’s installing another in his Malvern East cafe.

“Customers can’t tell the difference between this and barista-texturised milk,” he said.

Maya Shepherd, 19, with a robot milk steamer at Abacus in South Yarra. Picture: Jason Edwards

“Instead of flying the plane manually, this is autopilot for coffee. The milk comes out 10/10 every time, and let’s the baristas pour the perfect latte art.”

Abacus general manager Dylan Whitemore said he hasn’t looked back after installing an “Ubermilk” at two of his cafes.

“We went (from) having four baristas working Saturdays and Sundays, but with implementing Ubermilk, we cut back to three baristas every day,” he said.

When asked whether wage savings would see cafes drive down the price of a coffee, Moussi said the issue was more nuanced.

“I don’t think $3.50 is achievable for barista-made coffee these days, only because so much has gone up,” he said.

“But I think this technology will stop the price of coffee going above $6.”

Nathan Toleman, behind croissant empire Lune, Square One Coffee Roasters and Liminal cafe, said the milk steamers were more suited to large-scale cafes making bulk coffees.

“At Liminal or Square One we’d make 600-700 coffees per day,” he said.

Could you tell the difference between robot and human-steamed milk?

“We’ve used ‘Juggler’ and ‘Ubermilk’ … and both are good for cafes doing high volume. But like a keg of beer, you need to clean the lines every night and you want to turn over volume to justify having it.”

Toleman didn’t think the tech alone would replace the barista.

“It’s less about cutting jobs, and allowing the barista to focus on more interactive stuff and running coffees (espresso shots) as well,” he said.

Neither did Whitemore.

“Eventually everything, as much as possible, will be automated, but you will still need to have someone overseeing the quality — and talking to customers,” he said.

Coffee expert and Piazza D’Oro brand ambassador Shaun Kumar said cafes were already looking at ways to save costs — including mixing smooth tasting arabica and bitter robusta, like they do with instant coffee.

“There’s an idea around mixing arabica and robusta blends for milk-based coffees,” he said.

“The quality of (robusta) has increased over time, as has agriculture. It’s still great quality, just has a different dimension of flavour.”