Bringing Sofia its first robotic barista.
How we took a leading Kaufland supermarket from idea to a fully-branded, fully-operational coffee robot — and gave Bulgarian shoppers a "tech & taste" experience they'd never had before.
supermarket
fully branded
robotic barista
The brief
Our client operates one of the busiest Kaufland supermarkets in Sofia — thousands of shoppers a day, a prime entrance location, and a footfall most café owners can only dream of. What they didn't have was a way to turn that footfall into a fresh-coffee revenue stream without building, staffing and running a café from scratch.
They came to us with a clear ambition: be the first in the city to offer a robotic barista — a genuine "tech meets taste" attraction that would draw shoppers, generate revenue around the clock, and position the store as an innovator. No robotic coffee concept had launched in Sofia before, so there was no local playbook to follow.
Our job was to take that ambition and make it real, end to end: the right machine, a brand built for the location, full installation, and the support to keep it running — so the client could simply watch it trade.
How we delivered
Site & placement
We started on the ground in the store. Working with the client's team, we analysed footfall flow and identified the highest-traffic spot — near the entrance, where shoppers pass on the way in and out. We confirmed power, footprint and access, and mapped the install so the robot would draw attention without disrupting store operations.
Branding the machine
This wasn't a generic vending box. We designed a complete brand for the robot — livery, cup design, on-screen menu and pricing — tuned to the store's look and to Bulgarian customers. The result was a coffee point that felt like a premium café brand, not a machine in a corner.
Install & commissioning
We delivered, installed and commissioned the machine on site in [X] days. Because the robot runs on internal water and waste tanks, no plumbing or drainage works were needed — minimising disruption to a live supermarket. We tested every drink, calibrated the grind and milk, and ran the latte-art and image-printing features until output was consistent.
Sourcing & supply
We set up the consumables supply chain — beans, cups, milk and syrups — with a reorder rhythm matched to the store's volume, so the machine never runs dry during peak hours.
Launch & ongoing support
We brought the robot live as the first robotic barista in Sofia, trading 24/7. The client manages it from a phone — live sales, stock and pricing — while we monitor performance remotely and handle service. From launch day, the store had a working coffee business with one point of contact: us.
The outcome
The launch made the store the first location in Sofia with a robotic barista — an instant talking point. Shoppers stopped to watch the arm pour latte art and print images onto the foam, turning a routine grocery run into a "tech & taste" moment worth photographing and sharing.
For the client, it became a genuine revenue stream that trades around the clock, with no extra staff and no café to run. The figures below are representative of early performance.
▸ * Representative figures shown for illustration — replace the bracketed values with this project's actual data before publishing.
As seen on Bulgarian TV
The story made it onto national television.
The arrival of Sofia's first robotic barista didn't go unnoticed. Bulgarian television covered the launch — turning our client's store into a talking point far beyond its own footfall.
That's the kind of attention a genuine first delivers: free press, social buzz, and a brand that suddenly stands out.
On location
At the store entrance
A shopper orders
Latte art & printing
Custom store branding
The arm at work
Launch day in the store