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Photo: Coca-Cola
Yes, public health advocates are getting increasingly vocal about the negative effects of soda on the body, but Coke isn't giving up its 70 percent market share to tap water without a fight. The Atlanta-based company is rolling out the big guns with the Freestyle, a super-sleek, touch-screen soda fountain that lets users create up to 104 different flavors of fizzy refreshment. This high-tech beverage machine shoots out a wide range of traditional sodas, flavored waters, and energy drinks in every conceivable combination. Raspberry Coke? Check. Grape Sprite? Why not. Peach Fanta? No problem. The fountain is a study in excess, totally over the top. And yet ... admit it: You want to try it.
"Consumers are telling us they want choice," says Helen Tarleton, senior communications manager for Coca-Cola. She points out that the while the Freestyle might get some flack for offering so many options, more than half of them are low- and no-calorie. "When you've only got six or eight valves to work with, maybe only one is diet," she says.
Soda fountains have remained pretty much the same since they were popularized in the 1950s -- a basic ratio of syrup to carbonated water is combined in a container, then released out of the spigot. The Freestyle completely changes the game with a touch screen that instructs the machine to mix flavors on the spot, using technology originally developed for dialysis and cancer treatments. It's only got one nozzle, and works by releasing the flavorings into a stream of carbonated water. The new technology ensures that one soda doesn't taste like the flavor poured before it.
The Freestyle has been in development for five years but, according to the Wall Street Journal, Coke has been ramping up distribution in the last six months, testing 69 of the machines in 53 outlets. It's a gamble for restaurant owners, since the Freestyles cost 30 percent more than traditional machines, but there's a potential payoff, since the whiz-bang factor may entice customers to spend more on beverages.
For company execs, it's an information goldmine. The Freestyle is basically a wireless computer, and has the ability to send Coke specifics on what people are creating and how much they're spending. It's consumer data in real-time -- a marketing windfall. And Coke can talk back, telling the fountain to, say, discontinue a slow seller. But Tarleton says thus far, there aren't many. "We've found that customers are trying almost all the products almost every day," she says.
So what's not to like? Well, have you ever watched your grandfather navigate an ATM? Segments of the population might not be comfortable with the touch-screen technology, causing long waits at the machines. Also, it's estimated that the Freestyle sodas may cost consumers an extra 10 cents a cup. But a dime seems like a fair price for total flavor control.
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5-10-2010 @6:23PM Geezer said... A & W root beer in a frosty mug. Nothing like it.
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5-10-2010 @6:51PM Nancy Jayne said... Ooh, ooh - will they have chocolate syrup to add to my diet coke? Love chocolate cokes!!
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5-10-2010 @6:31PM Ken Kansky said... The Freesytle Vending machine is OLD news buddy...Not only did I report this on my beverage blog last year, they have done a video production of this machine on National TV describing how it keeps track of useage in the field and even transmits the sales numbers back via internet for marketing research and uses medical grade pin point flavor dispensors. Visit my blog on beverage on examiner.com and my beverage supply chain consulting web site on www.zibiza.com
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5-10-2010 @6:28PM REBELX1 said... What Coke can do to someone's intestines, toilets stains, automobile batteries, and even engine parts, it's a wonder that it isn't outlawed.
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5-10-2010 @6:29PM Jarhead said... I dont see the botton that says my favorite flavor...RUM...hmmm
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5-10-2010 @6:59PM ru said... why do you avoid high fructose corn syrup?
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5-10-2010 @7:30PM Lisa said... You would think that this is a good idea, but they use this machine at a popeye's that i eat at and it's disgusting. The drink flavor from the last ordered drink mixes with the drink you're trying to get...it's really not a delicious concoction.
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5-10-2010 @7:32PM Lexy said... coke.....it good but moderation is da key......keep drinking it all da time like my grandma used to then u will end up wit lotz 'o cavaties frm da high fructose corn syrup....i am in junior high skool but i do kno wat i am talkin bout.....maybe they should make a new machine like one that sells 100 % fruit juice and instead of mixing syrup to make more flavors of coke it can make mixed fruit drinks like apple/mango/papaya or strawberry/bananna/kiwi or any other flavors u can imagine!!! kinda like a smoothie or just 100 % natural fruit juice from freshly sqeezed fruit!.....(share ur ideas here too n tell me wat u think) i think its a win win because u can have less cavaties...healthy bodies....all the fruit you need in a day....all for the price of a healthy fruit juice or smoothie machine instead of a syrup filled can of coke
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5-10-2010 @7:50PM Genny said... Drinking soda leads to obesity when one drinks 2, 4, 6+ liters per day. If you drink a soda / pop once or twice a week, you really shouldn't use that as an excuse for not being able to fit into your skinny pants. What sodas contain all-natural ingredients that are good for us? I haven't ever heard of a single one. If you drink soda, you know that it isn't good for you. Period. If you drink it and you know it has hfcs in it, then don't complain that it is bad for you. Don't want it? Don't drink it.
If Brenda's 4-year-old son weighs 263 pounds and you saw him drinking a soda, don't blame the soda. Blame BRENDA and her expert parenting.
It's all about choices. Seems like most of the people who actually consume soda on a regular basis are aware of what they're doing and they are not complaining. Doesn't sound like Coke and Pepsi are going out of business anytime soon, either.
5-10-2010 @7:42PM 2drunk2care said... Call me old fasion,Call me what you will, Just an old fashion ice cold coke in a real glass bottel on a hot day. I guess I'm over the hill..
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5-10-2010 @7:54PM who cares who I am? said... good for them. Its all about biz'ness and they are doing something right! It could mean more work in the USA......
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5-10-2010 @8:02PM Nicole said... I love this idea! It sounds like fun! I wish that they had come up with this idea sooner! Down with boring soda!
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5-10-2010 @8:56PM rbbllum said... As long as KO remains true to their customers with the purity of Classic Coca-Cola, staying completely away from pretending to be a socially acceptable and health conscious snack food company like Pepsi-Cola, they have my business and appreciation.
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5-10-2010 @10:13PM eilonwy said... Love this idea! On the rare occasions when I want to a total junk drink, I'm usually stuck with root beer or strawberry pop. I'd be much more enthusiastic if I could mix more exotic flavors.
Of course, Coke is trying to trick me into drinking more. Nefarious of them!
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5-11-2010 @7:15PM Allergic and Annoyed said... A single nozzle? Coke, that's a serious design flaw for the MANY who are either sensitive or actually allergic to (not quite the same thing) to artificial sweeteners or any of those numerous flavors in the "palette."
It all runs down the same pipe and out of the body of the machine.
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5-11-2010 @1:52AM Jerry said... Hell - I'd be happy if they could just figure out how to keep the roaches out of the fountain machines.
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5-11-2010 @11:18AM Dave said... Why doesnt A&W restaurant carry A&W cream soda?
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5-12-2010 @9:15AM litehope said... I want one in my house.
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5-12-2010 @10:22AM Bernie B said... Great, so now you have to wait 5-10 minutes behind some halfwit that can't make a decision on what kind of coke to purchase
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5-12-2010 @11:55AM Rachel said... I think it's an excellent idea. I won't be able to use it unless there are caffeine-free options (aside from Sprite and Fanta). Even if it doesn'tl--great concept.
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