The three employeeless ‘smart bars’ are receiving mixed reviews from users
Photo by Sabina Mendoza.
UVic’s ‘fully automated’ coffee bars are receiving renewed attention from students, but not all of it is positive.
In November 2025 UVic Food Services installed a Touch Coffee Smart Bar in the Continuing Studies building. This past April, two more were installed in CARSA and the University Center.
While the machines themselves aren’t new to UVic, they were recently advertised by UVic Food Services on Instagram, and have recently seen discussion on the UVic subreddit.
Touch is a Canadian company headquartered in B.C. that sells and runs “automated, smart coffeebars,” which offer a variety of drinks. The company’s website says the machines are a way to sell coffee without having to deal with staff turnover. “Where the average barista may stay 6-12 months, our smart bar tirelessly serves round-the-clock without breaks or sick day.”
In a statement to the Martlet, UVic Food Services Director John Thompson said that the university’s service agreement is with Touch and that UVic is franchised by a local operator.
Thompson said the university makes a commission based on revenue “like any other vending service on campus.”Thompson told the Martlet that “campus machines are [typically] serviced and checked approximately twice a day” and that “the local franchisee also employs UVic students to assist with this servicing and maintenance.”
Touch sells each smart bar starting at $17 500 and displays a range of figures on their website listing potential revenue, even offering a calculator tool to project revenue.
The website advertises a $2.50 profit on each cup sold at a selling price of $4. However, it is unclear how the price at each machine is set. In the first week of classes this semester all Touch drinks were on sale for $3, but prices range, reaching up to $6.
Ravessa Fejzullai, a UVic student who works in food service on campus, said that “employeeless business, especially when it comes to coffee, is kind of a slap in the face to anyone who works in coffee.”
“There’s a lot of human elements that come from a coffee shop that are also a great part of the university experience,” she said.
In his statement, Thompson said that UVic sees their partnership with Touch Coffee as “a compliment to [the] existing coffee services on campus.”
A post on the UVic subreddit has brought forward a range of opinions about the new machines.
“The novelty of robot coffee was worth it for one drink,” one commenter wrote, but said that “the drinks it makes are all hot garbage.” The majority of commenters shared a similar sentiment, with one individual urging others not to “waste money” on the drinks.
Another commenter wrote “I’d rather go to Boardwalk. The staff there are really nice, and I’d rather support them… keeping their jobs.”
Others had a more positive view of the smart bars. One individual wrote that they are “a godsend over the summer when the university decides to ignore every[one]… and close all of the services down.”
Some theorized that the images of beverage selection appearing on the display are AI generated, with one user deriding the images as “AI slop.” In recent months, AI images have been increasingly used in the food sector to advertise menu items, as per the Wall Street Journal and CBC. Fezjullai shared a similar opinion, pointing to the negative consequences of generative AI for artists.
She also highlighted the university’s strict anti-AI policies, like the updated academic integrity policy passed earlier this year, and said that the use of AI in the smart bars “almost discredits their entire moral stance or academic stance on the matter.”
The Martlet reached out to Touch Coffee Canada, asking for clarification if the photos displayed on the machine are AI generated. Touch did not respond to the Martlet’s request for comment.
Though opinions about the smart bars vary, Thompson said in his statement that UVic Food Services is reviewing potential locations for new machines.
