Coca-Cola Freestyle machines on the way out?

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Re: Coca-Cola Freestyle machines on the way out?

Post by Brian Lutz »

While visiting a McDonald's I don't usually go to last night, I found that they have a new type of dispenser I haven't seen previously. There's no overt branding on the machine itself (all the branding was on the display) and functionally it seemed to be more in line with a Pepsi Spire machine than a Coke Freestyle machine. It appears to use standard bag-in-box product with optional flavor shots, as it had the standard set of flavors you'd find in a McDonald's. One oddity with this was that it showed the flavor shot options for water. It does have the disadvantage of having all flavors come out of the same dispenser nozzle, but also takes up less counter space than a standard fountain would.

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Re: Coca-Cola Freestyle machines on the way out?

Post by storewanderer »

A McDonalds in South Lake Tahoe, CA had Freestyle machines and took them out, and also put the drink machine behind the counter...?

Also Terrible Herbst just opened a 50,000 square foot gas station with 96 gas pumps in Jean, NV and it does not have Freestyle machines. Terrible Herbst had been installing compact Freestyle machines (as seen in some Safeway delis, or at some Jack in the Boxes behind the counter) in their stations for the past few years.

I really do not like these machines and all I really do with them is get ice. It seems like syrup often drips into the ice.
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Re: Coca-Cola Freestyle machines on the way out?

Post by BillyGr »

storewanderer wrote: October 30th, 2018, 10:12 pm I really do not like these machines and all I really do with them is get ice. It seems like syrup often drips into the ice.
Perhaps that has been an issue since they are separating the ice dispenser in this new version from the soda dispensing spouts (where the regular Freestyle has both in the same spot)?
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Re: Coca-Cola Freestyle machines on the way out?

Post by storewanderer »

BillyGr wrote: November 1st, 2018, 6:08 pm
storewanderer wrote: October 30th, 2018, 10:12 pm I really do not like these machines and all I really do with them is get ice. It seems like syrup often drips into the ice.
Perhaps that has been an issue since they are separating the ice dispenser in this new version from the soda dispensing spouts (where the regular Freestyle has both in the same spot)?
You know, that is true in the compact ones that are present in the Safeway delis too. The ice spout is next to the soda spout.
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Re: Coca-Cola Freestyle machines on the way out?

Post by Alpha8472 »

These new machines appear to be exclusive to McDonald's. There are YouTube videos of them going back to early 2017.

They are probably a cheaper alternative to Coca Coca Freestyle machines which are expensive. They have cherry, vanilla, and raspberry flavor shots.

None of the newly remodeled McDonald's near me use these. Those stores still use standard soda fountains.
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Re: Coca-Cola Freestyle machines on the way out?

Post by storewanderer »

Alpha8472 wrote: November 3rd, 2018, 11:59 pm These new machines appear to be exclusive to McDonald's. There are YouTube videos of them going back to early 2017.

They are probably a cheaper alternative to Coca Coca Freestyle machines which are expensive. They have cherry, vanilla, and raspberry flavor shots.

None of the newly remodeled McDonald's near me use these. Those stores still use standard soda fountains.
McDonald's are being actively remodeled in my area and the inconsistency on the soda machines seems to be very odd. Some get the Freestyle machines, some keep old fountains, others moved drinks back to employee serve behind the counter. There are quite a few different franchisees and they all seem to be doing their own thing when it comes to drinks. At least they all hold that $1 price point.
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Re: Coca-Cola Freestyle machines on the way out?

Post by cjd »

The newly rebuilt McDonald's here just has the regular machines as well. That machine looks better than the typical Freestyle ones since it has two dispensers, plus it has an ice machine on top. For establishments with more traffic, the single dispenser design just doesn't make sense. Especially since by the design there's always someone who can't figure out what they want to drink. Or it's out of ice and an employee has to come out to refill it, further slowing things down when there's only one machine.

I never got why the Freestyles don't make ice, since most soda machines I see these days have their own ice machine.
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Re: Coca-Cola Freestyle machines on the way out?

Post by cjd »

This week I've eaten at two fast food restaurants and both have made changes to their soda fountains.

Dairy Queen has recently (at least as of the last few months when I last went) gotten rid of their awful freestyle machine. They now have a regular freestanding soda fountain in its place. Didn't notice the brand but its similarly sized to the old one and is not touch screen.

Wendy's I had not eaten inside since March 2020. This is a somewhat odd location, in that it's the only one that I have seen that still has its original decor, furniture and signage from when it was built. All the others around here have been remodeled, at the very least, on the interior and new signage.

It previously had the behind the counter soda fountain setup. But at some point (it appeared to be quite recently) they have removed that and installed a new Freestyle machine along the wall to the left of the counter. I have not seen one of these style machines before. It's white and has the regular touch screen, but instead of the big silver dispense button, it just has a round screen that you touch to dispense the drink. It's very touchy and seems a bit unpredictable. I didn't like not having the tactile response of an actual "button" and kept expecting to "feel" it move.

This location also has removed the metal railing around the counter, as most other remodeled locations have, probably because they were in the way of the relocated fountain. Somehow though they were able to patch the tile floor so that there are no holes from the bolts of the railings. They also added a cabinet next to the soda fountain with lids and straws. It looks like the same cabinet I've seen at the remodeled locations.

I do miss the railings as they seemed to improve traffic flow. Now it seems all discombobulated at the counter. This location also never has more than one register open, they seem to take just one order at a time and fill it. It's always been a very slow location for some reason. They don't seem short on staff though, at least not today.

As I said this location has had VERY little updating, it still has carpet in the dining area and the old light wood and green chairs and booths. I think all they have done is paint over the wallpaper at some point.
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Re: Coca-Cola Freestyle machines on the way out?

Post by Alpha8472 »

The Coca Cola Freestyle machines are more expensive for the restaurant. Most customers do not seek out the Freestyle machines. They just want the basic soda choices. There are also customers that hate the weird off taste of the Freestyle machine. The soda never tastes quite right. It is the powder cartridges that they use.

Most of those additional flavors of soda taste so artificial and bitter. The flavors seem to use artificial sweeteners and that leaves a terrible after taste that contaminates all the other sodas coming out of the same tube.

Wendy's was always so busy, that you would be discouraged from asking for soda refills when the soda fountain was behind the counter.

The self serve Freestyle machines encourage waste. People are constantly pouring out a full cup of soda because they hate the flavor that they mixed. The restaurants make less profit from these machines.

Many Wendy's restaurants have only one register at the counter. It really baffles the mind as even busy stores with lines out the door still have 1 register. Is it a cost savings measure?
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Re: Coca-Cola Freestyle machines on the way out?

Post by storewanderer »

Wendys is very behind these machines, they even now offer customized drinks in their app with the Freestyle machine. I notice Jack in the Box seems to have these machines standard now too.

Meanwhile McDonalds seems to have scrapped these machines or at minimum not made them standard. Multiple McDonalds in my area that remodeled during COVID actually pulled self serve drinks out, walled the area off, and are only employee serve drinks. There is one location that remodeled that kept self serve drinks but it is just a regular dispenser not the Freestyle. There is one new build McDonalds which also does not have self serve drinks anymore.

Coke probably loves it when a customer pours a cup out they don't like and takes a new cup. More syrup used=more money for Coke. It also makes it look like more people are customizing their drinks which shows up on the report showing drinks served. Part of the selling point when Coke is selling these machines it to say x percent of customers are customizing their drinks with our flavors- you should install these machines now so you don't lose out to the competition who offers this option.

These machines- I am shocked are still around. I have noticed gas station operators have been very slow to pick these machines up.
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