Robot Barista ELLA to serve Gourmet Coffee on the Go to Commuters at 30 MRT Stations Across Singapore

Stellar Lifestyle (formerly SMRT Commercial), a business outfit with expertise in property and retail management, media and digital advertising solutions, and Crown Digital, a Singaporean start-up with expertise in F&B technology, are collaborating to bring robot baristas serving gourmet coffee to some 30 MRT stations across Singapore by the end of 2022 to enhance lifestyle experiences through innovation and the use of technology in the public transport network spaces and beyond.

With a retail footprint of less than five square metres, ELLA has a safe, cashless and contactless interface able to serve up to 200 cups of gourmet coffee per hour to commuters. For greater convenience, commuters are able to order beverages ahead of time via the Crown Digital app and collect the drinks immediately upon arrival at their destination MRT station.

The deployment of ELLA, Singapore’s first robot barista deployment at the 30 MRT stations is Crown Digital’s second collaboration in a rail network and funded by Stellar Lifestyle. In December 2020, Crown Digital signed an agreement to deploy ELLA for test- marketing at JR East’s train stations in Japan.

Mr Tony Heng, President, Stellar Lifestyle, said: “We plan to enhance commuters’ experience by enlivening and transforming Singapore’s public transport network spaces with innovative and new-to-network concepts. ELLA is an example of the kind of lifestyle concepts we are actively looking for at MRT stations across the island.”