Coca-Cola Freestyle and Pepsi Spire Soda Dispensers

[DanielK]

This topic is now about 18 months old.  Probably in the first 2 months or so I was discussing it w/ the manager at the 5 guys in Courthouse.  Supposedly his ownership group was all hot on it and were going to install the machines.   Also supposedly they had measured out the space and were all ready for installation.

Approximately 16 months later.  No freestyle coke machine in the 5 guys at Courthouse.   What happened???

 

When they first rolled out the machines, Coke was charging significantly more per cup for the Freestyle machines, but they were subsidizing most of the difference for their pilot customers.

Maybe if the cost cap is still significant and they're no longer subsidizing, customers aren't eager to jump on the bandwagon?

[Destruya]

When they first rolled out the machines, Coke was charging significantly more per cup for the Freestyle machines, but they were subsidizing most of the difference for their pilot customers.

Maybe if the cost cap is still significant and they're no longer subsidizing, customers aren't eager to jump on the bandwagon?

That, or it's the Ferrari conundrum.  For most "regular" cars, even newer ones, you can always find a shop locally that has people certified to work on your car, even stuff that would've once been considered 'dealer only' jobs.  I'd imagine these are still rare enough that if/when one breaks catastrophically, if they're the only drink dispenser, the business is really up shit creek without a paddle, because taking someplace like Firehouse Subs in mind, if someone orders a combo (which comes with a fountain drink) and they can't provide the fountain drink, I'd think their 'go-to' would be to raid their cooler, which will be empty by or a little after the lunch rush.  And it also assumes when the Soda Ph.D. arrives, that the problem with the machine isn't related to the electronics, which could turn the hassle into a multi-day affair unless there's a 'quick-swap' option available to Freestyle owners to prevent downtime and lost revenue.

Whereas I'm sure with a classic-style lever-action or push-button fountain there are a *ton* of 'beverage engineers' that can fix those within an hour's time including the commute and repair - *and* generally the only thing you have to worry about with the old-style fountains is *one* of the spigots going bad, or the ice machine crapping out.

TL;DR (too long; didn't read for those not 'up' with forum lingo): The Freestyle machines are neat, but they add a lot of potential points of failure.

[DonRocks]

TL;DR (too long; didn't read for those not 'up' with forum lingo): The Freestyle machines are neat, but they add a lot of potential points of failure.

[i *think* you've used tl;dr twice now (or someone else has also used it once) - does it mean "Too long, Don Rockwell?"

If so, your posts are *not* too long; they're quite good, in fact.]

Was BGR the area pioneer for these? On a separate, but related, note, I think District Taco may have been the area pioneer for Boylan's soda dispensers, but I'm not 100% sure about that (I've seen them somewhere else now, too). What a brilliant strategy that was. I assume they cost more for the restaurant, but the profit margin on fountain sodas is huge. I wish Boylan's wasn't unhealthy (it's a perfect example of something high-quality, but unhealthy, like Route 11 potato chips) - I'd sip on it all day long. Well, at least their diet drinks are terrific, too.

[mnnchas]

I swear Five Guys had them first, in select locations, but who knows.

Speaking of soda, can someone explain the difference between Boylan's and Puck's?  If I recall, a few places near work started with Boylan's machines a few years ago and replaced them with Puck's after a while; Taylor Gourmet, Chop'd, for example.

[DanielK]

Pretty sure BGR was first.

The original contracts *included* service; in fact, the machines were connected to the Internet and actually notified the service company when the machine was about to fail, so theoretically the repair person could be there before the machine stopped. I've also heard the things are pretty bulletproof, but from a business perspective, I'd probably only want one if my volume was big enough for 2 machines so I didn't have to stop serving sodas if it *did* go down.

[DonRocks]

Pretty sure BGR was first.

The original contracts *included* service; in fact, the machines were connected to the Internet and actually notified the service company when the machine was about to fail, so theoretically the repair person could be there before the machine stopped. I've also heard the things are pretty bulletproof, but from a business perspective, I'd probably only want one if my volume was big enough for 2 machines so I didn't have to stop serving sodas if it *did* go down.

You could sell bottled sodas too (many places do), or maybe have a less expensive, older machine at the ready.

[Destruya]

Actually, a whole bunch of places were 'first' 

And it dawned on me after reading that, that my 'Ferrari' analogy was apt as Pininfarina had a big hand in designing the Coke machines.  Also, given that friggin' *laundry list* of 'systems integrators' and 'program management' firms, I reiterate that it must be an absolute nightmare when one of these things craps out, even if they can 'phone home' before it happens.

Also, wow there is no place with a "Pepsi Spire" machine anywhere near here (at least going by their website).  Lexington and Bowling Green, VA.  The latter isn't even very close to I-95S, it's off of VA State Route 2.

[DaRiv18]

Stopped by the Dupont Circle BGR for the first time in a long time.  Got my root beer out of a standard machine . . . bye bye Freestyle. 

[DanielK]

5 hours ago, DaRiv18 said:

Stopped by the Dupont Circle BGR for the first time in a long time.  Got my root beer out of a standard machine . . . bye bye Freestyle. 

It's possible that it's different by location, but the Potomac BGR gave back the Freestyle machine a couple of years ago.

[pras]

Has anyone ever seen the smaller version of this machine in the wild?

[ktmoomau]

14 hours ago, pras said:

Has anyone ever seen the smaller version of this machine in the wild?

The one with a tablet looking screen?  (I haven't but googled to see what you were talking about.)

[pras]

1 hour ago, ktmoomau said:

The one with a tablet looking screen?  (I haven't but googled to see what you were talking about.)

My office had a soda fountain and we are trying to modernize a bit.  My boss loves the soda fountain and we thought an upgrade might be nice.  Space is an issue though, thus the need for the mini version.