Swiss-based food giant Nestlé is hiring 1,000 humanoid robots as sales clerks at stores across Japan. According to the food giant company, the first batch of robots which will be called as Pepper will be assigned on their stations at the end of the year to sell home espresso machines and coffee capsules.
"From December, they will start selling coffee machines for us at big retail stores," told Miki Kano, Nestle Japan spokesperson. "We are sure that our customers will enjoy shopping and being entertained by robots."
In response to the high demand of pioneer coffee machines in Switzerland, Nestle executives have come up with the idea of introducing high quality instant coffee in its Japan outlets with the help of humanoid robots. Nestle claims 50 to 100 percent growth sales upon the introduction of instant coffee machines.
Pepper robots will be selling Nescafe Gold blend barista coffee machines and Nescafe Dolce Gusto beginning December in about 20 home shops. By the end of 2015, Pepper will be expected to be seen in over 1, 000 stores in Japan.
The Nestle robots in Japan is the first ever robot that can respond to human emotions and are able to read. With voice and emotion recognition technology, Pepper can read and understand people's facial expressions and can interpret people's feelings.
Kohzoh Takaoka, Chief Executive of Nestle Japan says, Pepper has the ability to explain Nescafe products and services and can engage in conversations. He also added that he is hoping that the humanoid robot, a Japanese innovation will be able to reach other nations.
The Nestle robots in Japan were made by Softbank Robotics, auxiliary of Softbank Corporation. The humanoid robots were made following Nestlé's effort to promote advanced customer experience and delight their customers over coffee.
