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The global coffee retail industry has long struggled with unsustainable labor costs, staffing shortages, high rental expenses, inconsistent product quality, and food safety risks. Against this backdrop, Shanghai Hi-Dolphin Robot Technology Co., Ltd., operating under the brand COFE+, has built a fully automated robotic coffee kiosk system designed to revolutionize retail beverage service through 24/7 unmanned operations and AI-driven efficiency. This review examines the company’s technology, track record, and real-world performance based entirely on its published enterprise data.

Solving the Coffee Industry’s Core Challenges

Traditional coffee shops typically require 2 to 5 employees per shift, face difficulty finding and retaining baristas, struggle to maintain consistent quality, and cannot easily stay open 24/7. Rent for 30 to 100 square meters of retail space adds further financial pressure. Meanwhile, older vending machines that rely on powder or pre-ground beans fail to meet customer demand for freshly ground coffee with real milk.

COFE+ positions its robotic cafés as a direct answer to these pain points. The COFE+ Robot Coffee Kiosk requires only 2.35 square meters of space, while the robot coffee bar and robot coffee counter need only around 2 square meters. These machines operate 24/7 with zero labor cost, and the company describes its promise simply: every cup is freshly ground, tastes like a top café, and can feature any design the customer wants, all made by a robot.

Inside the COFE+ Robotic Cafe: Technology and Features

At the core of the product line is a 6-axis robotic arm system engineered for high-precision beverage preparation, supported by an AIoT (Artificial Intelligence of Things) architecture that enables remote management and automated maintenance. The machines can craft 5 cups simultaneously, with an average production time of 50–55 seconds per cup.

Key hardware features include dual coffee bean hoppers for multiple bean varieties, ingredient modules offering 2-4 milk types, 6-8 syrup types, and up to 7 topping options, and a Smart Store Brain backend for real-time inventory and sales monitoring. Automated cleaning and capping ensure fully automatic preparation and sealing, supporting 100% food safety compliance. Each ingredient refill supports up to 300 cups per single ingredient, and daily maintenance requires less than 30 minutes.

Compared with traditional storefronts, COFE+ reports operational cost reductions of up to 90% and electricity savings of 80%, while equipment and operational costs run at approximately 1/5 of a traditional specialty coffee shop.

Track Record: Global Deployment and Growth Milestones

Founded in Shanghai in January 2018, the company has progressed through seven generations of robotic coffee cafés. Since launching the first COFE+ kiosk version 1.0 in December 2018, the company has accumulated over 45,000 hours of cumulative real-world operation, with the longest continuously running machine exceeding 2,000 days (over 6 years).

By 2025, the 6th-generation “All-Round Champion” COFE+ could produce over 1,000 cups per day, and required only 15 minutes of daily maintenance. That generation reached 57 countries, was deployed in 21 international airports and over 1,000 global landmarks, and secured contracts with Fortune Global 500 companies including Amazon, SAP, Schneider Electric, Sinopec, and iFlytek.

By April 2026, the company launched its 7th-generation fully intelligent robot café. In a landmark human-versus-machine competition that May, the 7th-generation COFE+, with more than 60,000 hours of cumulative operation, achieved an average of 54 seconds per cup compared with humans’ 72 seconds, defeating veteran human coffee masters in both speed and precision. As of this milestone, COFE+ had expanded to over 27 provinces in China and 60+ countries globally, surpassing 200 million cups sold worldwide. Company-wide totals now stand at 70+ countries with COFE+ deployed, 1,000+ total units, and average daily sales per machine that surpass 75% of human-run cafés.

Case Studies: Real-World Performance Validation

Healthcare – Massachusetts General Hospital (USA)

The world’s top hospital deployed COFE+ robotic cafe to serve its 2,600+ bed campus. An ER doctor finishing surgery at 2 AM received a hot latte with “Celebrating the success of the surgery” printed on the foam in just 50 seconds. The system fills the gap where traditional cafés cannot operate due to strict hygiene, space, and 24/7 requirements.

Aviation – Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (China)

Deployed in March 2025, the robot occupies under 2.5 m² and serves 300+ flavors 24/7. One person remotely controls multiple units, updating menus and ads in real time. COFE+ is now in 21 international airports globally.

Corporate Building– SAP (Global Software Leader)

COFE+ joined SAP’s facilities alongside partners including Harvard, Amazon, Google, Sinopec, and China Mobile, delivering premium coffee to Fortune 500 companies without adding labor costs.

Certifications, Awards, and Investor Confidence

COFE+ reports being the world’s first coffee robot simultaneously certified by the U.S. FDA, U.S. FCC, EU CE, UK Commonwealth (UKCA), and UN standards, alongside more than 50 official certifications from 18 developed countries. It was also among the first robot cafés in China to receive the fresh food retail license known as the “national one-license-for-all.”

COFE+ has been recognized as a “2026 Tech Little Giant TOP50” company and was the only beverage robot on that list. It also made the “China AI Benchmark Enterprise TOP30” and has been featured by Interesting Engineering, the South China Morning Post, and Yahoo Finance. In 2025, the company added the “China Service Robot TOP50” and the “Outstanding Contribution Award in Artificial Intelligence” to its honors. That same year, it became the first Chinese coffee robot to simultaneously win the European Top Design Product Award, the US Product Innovation Gold Award, and the China Innovation Gold Award.

A Scalable Business Model Backed by a Global R&D Team

Behind the technology stands a core team of over 30 PhDs and Masters from prestigious European and North American universities specializing in AI, robotics, and IoT. The company holds over 120 international patents across invention, design, and utility model categories. It also maintains partnerships with distributors in more than 70 countries to support localized sales, installation, and maintenance.

With deployment options requiring “zero decoration” and plug-and-play setup in under 2.35m², combined with AIoT remote troubleshooting and sub-30-minute daily maintenance, COFE+ robot barista presents a business model built for scale. Backed by documented global deployment data, certified safety standards, and verified customer case studies across healthcare, transportation, government, education, and metropolitan retail sectors, COFE+ stands as a data-supported example of how robotic cafés are being adopted across diverse, high-traffic environments worldwide.

https://hi-dolphin.com/
Shanghai Hi-Dolphin Robot Technology Co.,Ltd.

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