Coca-Cola Freestyle

[JBailey]

Coca-Cola has been testing and seems to now be installing the new Coca-Cola Freestyle fountain machine. There are supposedly 106 cartridges (think of inkjet type) in the machine that through micro-dosing of concentrated bases and flavors allows for an unbelievable amount of consumer directed flavor combinations. There is RFID technology, on-board computing, constant contact with Coke headquarters to assure not running out of product or to detect errors (and to follow market trends) and something called "PurePour" which means there is not carry over flavors from one dispensed selection to the next customer's drink.

Cosi in Chicago has installed at least one. It is very cool technology. Now, one can create and design beverages in a restaurant!

[heidih]

A friend of mine who is not even a soda person told me about it. She is utterly fascinated by the possibilities. She saw one at a Subway. The two issues she raised were whether the machine can keep the integrity of each flavor (assuming the syrups come out of a central place), and the time to get your drink since folks will be spending more time playing around.

[lebowits]

Two of these fancy machines were installed at a local burrito joint. The biggest problem I noticed was that people seemed rather confused by them and took far too long to figure out how to use them.

[judiu]

You mean that there's now the possibility to get a chocolate cherry coke without a (quickly vanishing) old style soda fountain? YEE HAW! Wonder when they'll hit Florida?

[jsmeeker]

We had one installed at out cafeteria at work several months ago.

Actually, it's a total of 106 different drinks it can dispense. But they are all "pre-set". You can't order up custom combinations. I have since seen them at a Pei Wei in the Dallas area. Those actually had Dr. Pepper loaded in them instead of Mr. Pibb.

[toolprincess]

We had one installed at out cafeteria at work several months ago.

Actually, it's a total of 106 different drinks it can dispense. But they are all "pre-set". You can't order up custom combinations. I have since seen them at a Pei Wei in the Dallas area. Those actually had Dr. Pepper loaded in them instead of Mr. Pibb.

Odd since Dr. Pepper is a Pepsi product. I am not a "pepper" but I do like Mr. Pibb (which is to rarely found these days).

[KD1191]

We had one installed at out cafeteria at work several months ago.

Actually, it's a total of 106 different drinks it can dispense. But they are all "pre-set". You can't order up custom combinations. I have since seen them at a Pei Wei in the Dallas area. Those actually had Dr. Pepper loaded in them instead of Mr. Pibb.

Odd since Dr. Pepper is a Pepsi product. I am not a "pepper" but I do like Mr. Pibb (which is to rarely found these days).

Dr. Pepper is a Dr. Pepper/Seven-Up product, it is not affiliated with Pepsi. It can be carried by those carrying Coke or Pepsi as it is not a cola.

I'm eager to play with one of these machines, would not want to be in line at one.

[toolprincess]

thanks for the clarification. Here Dr. Pepper and 7Up are served almost exclusively in conjunction with Coke products.

[jsmeeker]

thanks for the clarification. Here Dr. Pepper and 7Up are served almost exclusively in conjunction with Coke products.

In Texas, Dr. Pepper is the number two soda. You'll see it pretty much everywhere, whether the other beverages are Coca-Cola products or Pepsi products.

[VibeGuy]

In fact, Coke reached out to Dr Pepper/7Up to distribute Dr Pepper and Diet Dr Pepper on the Freestyle platform. The deal involves investment by DP/7Up on the order of 100 million dollars over 20 years.

I'm particularly intrigued by some of the brands poured on the Freestyle including the Dasani flavored waters. I don't do HFCS and I don't do caffeine anymore, so other than Sonic (Sprite Zero) or the odd Minute Maid Lite Lemonade fountain account, I don't usually buy sodas in quick service or casual dining, and I don't think I'm alone. I have a sneaking suspicion that Freestyle converts a large number of customers who were just ordering ice water into beverage buyers by having 50+ non-caloric options.

My big concern with the machines is throughput - they're only rated for 90 drinks an hour, which is very, very low compared to a regular 8-valve Lancer or Cornelius postmix dispenser.

[Toliver]

Here's evidence that Coca-Cola is paying attention to/tracking what customers have been mixing/pouring when using their Freestyle machines:

"Sprite's Newest Flavor Is EXACTLY What The People Want"

Quote

If you've ever used a Coca-Cola Freestyle machine, you probably delighted in being able to play mixologist. Lime Diet Coke? Done. Orange Sprite? Not a problem. Cherry Vanilla Coke Zero? Don't mind if I do.

But while you were there testing, re-testing, and picking out your favorite combos, those Freestyle machines were collecting data.

The two new Sprite flavors (Cherry Sprite and Cherry Sprite Zero) are the latest results.

 

So is this a good thing? Or does being "tracked" when you dispense your beverage make you feel uncomfortable?

 

[TicTac]

I don't drink pop so no worries on my end.

 

Though I will have a Brio once or twice a year!

 

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

6 hours ago, Toliver said:

So is this a good thing? Or does being "tracked" when you dispense your beverage make you feel uncomfortable?

 

The article doesn't give details about how they are tracking information. I haven't seen one of the Freestyle machines, so I don't know if maybe they have a debit/credit card slot, and could enable tracking you personally. I wouldn't care for that, but if all they are doing is counting the number of each variety purchased so they can align their product line with the more popular ones, I can't see any harm in it.

[munchymom]

No, there's no identifying information, so I'm not bothered by it. (Honestly, even if they were tracking me personally I wouldn't be too concerned about the Coca-Cola folks knowing that I like diet ginger ale.)

[MSRadell]

12 minutes ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

The article doesn't give details about how they are tracking information. I haven't seen one of the Freestyle machines, so I don't know if maybe they have a debit/credit card slot, and could enable tracking you personally. I wouldn't care for that, but if all they are doing is counting the number of each variety purchased so they can align their product line with the more popular ones, I can't see any harm in it.

I've never seen one that had a method to pay for the drink as part of the machine. The only place I've seen them are in various fast food restaurants such as Qdoba, Noodles, Wendy's, etc. I agree, if anything they are tracking is what's the most popular drink I'm actually in favor of it because that way they will provide new products to market based on customer acceptance.

[MelissaH]

I, too, have no issue with the anonymous tracking, and I think it's a stroke of brilliance. It's all about sales, so why wouldn't you start to sell something in cans if a lot of people are concocting it from a freestyle machine?