Coca-Cola Freestyle machines on the way out?

[Brian Lutz]

There are also cases of popular unaffiliated regional brands that presumably couldn't be put into Coke Freestyle machines. For example, a lot of restaurants in this area have Cheerwine (a cherry soda made and found mostly in NC) in their fountains. It seems like most of the places that have Cheerwine are using Pepsi products (and in fact it looks like their bag-in-box products are distributed by Pepsico), but a handful (most notably Cook Out) offer Cheerwine alongside Coke products so I'm not sure where they get that from. I do know Coke Freestyle machines seem rare here, but I haven't been here long enough to really visit a lot of fast food places. I suspect a similar situation exists with products like Big Red in Texas and Vernor's Ginger Ale in Michigan and the Great Lakes area.

[Super S]

A few weeks ago, I ate at a couple of Ivar's locations in the Seattle-Tacoma area. All of which have switched back to traditional fountain machines. It's been a while now since I have seen a new install of one of these machines.

I do know of a new Burger King under construction not too far from here in St. Helens, Oregon, and am curious which way they are going to go with this.

[ClownLoach]

Traditional soda fountains are the best. They use actual syrup instead of flavored powder cartridges.

McDonald's soda tastes better than other chains due to their unique soda fountains. Other restaurants get their soda syrups in plastic bags, but McDonald's gets its syrup delivered in stainless steel tanks. It keeps the soda fresher and there is no plastic aftertaste. Both the syrup and water are pre-chilled before going into the soda fountain. Soda fountains at other places rely on the dispenser to chill lukewarm water. McDonald's has insulated tubes that deliver the liquid from the fridge to the fountain. As soda warms up the carbon dioxide will escape faster. The water is kept so cold at McDonald's that the gas does not escape as fast and you have better carbonation and fizz.

Customers add ice to keep the soda chilled, but that could lead to watered down soda. McDonald's uses a ratio of syrup set to allow for ice to melt.

McDonald's uses straws that are wider than than typical straws so that soda can hit more of your taste buds. Now I know why my parents collected a large supply of McDonald's straws.

Are we sure McDonald's is still consistent with this entire model? The remodeled stores where you can see inside the kitchen have a robotic soda filling machine now. It dispenses cups through a metal rail contraption down to a little conveyor belt. It queues multiple drinks and once the belt is full it stops making them. The worker still has to put the lid on. The concern is that this uses a single nozzle like the Freestyle machine instead of individual spouts for each flavor. It does not taste the same. I think it's basically a robot Freestyle machine without the extra flavor powders.

[storewanderer]

The robotic soda machines have been in use for quite some time at McDonalds on the drive through side (or at counter serve locations like airports).

The nozzle may spray a little clear water out between cups to clean itself.

[Super S]

The robotic soda machines have been in use for quite some time at McDonalds on the drive through side (or at counter serve locations like airports).

The nozzle may spray a little clear water out between cups to clean itself.

These have been around a long time and actually were being used long before the Freestyle machines came out.

[bryceleinan]

Traditional soda fountains are the best. They use actual syrup instead of flavored powder cartridges.

McDonald's soda tastes better than other chains due to their unique soda fountains. Other restaurants get their soda syrups in plastic bags, but McDonald's gets its syrup delivered in stainless steel tanks. It keeps the soda fresher and there is no plastic aftertaste. Both the syrup and water are pre-chilled before going into the soda fountain. Soda fountains at other places rely on the dispenser to chill lukewarm water. McDonald's has insulated tubes that deliver the liquid from the fridge to the fountain. As soda warms up the carbon dioxide will escape faster. The water is kept so cold at McDonald's that the gas does not escape as fast and you have better carbonation and fizz.

Customers add ice to keep the soda chilled, but that could lead to watered down soda. McDonald's uses a ratio of syrup set to allow for ice to melt.

McDonald's uses straws that are wider than than typical straws so that soda can hit more of your taste buds. Now I know why my parents collected a large supply of McDonald's straws.

Are we sure McDonald's is still consistent with this entire model? The remodeled stores where you can see inside the kitchen have a robotic soda filling machine now. It dispenses cups through a metal rail contraption down to a little conveyor belt. It queues multiple drinks and once the belt is full it stops making them. The worker still has to put the lid on. The concern is that this uses a single nozzle like the Freestyle machine instead of individual spouts for each flavor. It does not taste the same. I think it's basically a robot Freestyle machine without the extra flavor powders.

McDonald’s in Dayton definitely uses Bag in Box for most of their stuff - you can see the rack from the drive through window. This is another one without self-serve drinks either, everything is done in the back, hidden from customer view.

[ClownLoach]

Traditional soda fountains are the best. They use actual syrup instead of flavored powder cartridges.

McDonald's soda tastes better than other chains due to their unique soda fountains. Other restaurants get their soda syrups in plastic bags, but McDonald's gets its syrup delivered in stainless steel tanks. It keeps the soda fresher and there is no plastic aftertaste. Both the syrup and water are pre-chilled before going into the soda fountain. Soda fountains at other places rely on the dispenser to chill lukewarm water. McDonald's has insulated tubes that deliver the liquid from the fridge to the fountain. As soda warms up the carbon dioxide will escape faster. The water is kept so cold at McDonald's that the gas does not escape as fast and you have better carbonation and fizz.

Customers add ice to keep the soda chilled, but that could lead to watered down soda. McDonald's uses a ratio of syrup set to allow for ice to melt.

McDonald's uses straws that are wider than than typical straws so that soda can hit more of your taste buds. Now I know why my parents collected a large supply of McDonald's straws.

Are we sure McDonald's is still consistent with this entire model? The remodeled stores where you can see inside the kitchen have a robotic soda filling machine now. It dispenses cups through a metal rail contraption down to a little conveyor belt. It queues multiple drinks and once the belt is full it stops making them. The worker still has to put the lid on. The concern is that this uses a single nozzle like the Freestyle machine instead of individual spouts for each flavor. It does not taste the same. I think it's basically a robot Freestyle machine without the extra flavor powders.

McDonald’s in Dayton definitely uses Bag in Box for most of their stuff - you can see the rack from the drive through window. This is another one without self-serve drinks either, everything is done in the back, hidden from customer view.

I think the story of the magical Coca-Cola steel tanks and other such McDonald's specifics may be historically accurate but are no longer relevant. I cannot imagine that Coca-Cola wants to deal with the costly reverse logistics involved in such a program when they can send the syrup in a recyclable bag in a pouch. The stories of cooled plumbing might have been relevant with older Mansard buildings with full basements but I am not sure those are actually utilized anymore as the new kitchen equipment is all designed around being smaller, reducing footsteps etc. to slash labor to the bone. Stores torn down and rebuilt, which are most, completely eliminated the basement, the delivery "chute" and so forth. It's cheaper to operate receiving flat pallets thru the back door versus the old driver unload and tossing of cases down the chute. Most importantly, these cheap new single story "McBox" style restaurants being so small in the back-of-house would not have room to house a reverse logistics model for these syrup tanks that would take up a lot of room.

I should also mention that older McDonald's locations seemed to have post-mix dispensers where you could see the stream of syrup separate of the soda water (thus mixing in the cup as it lands). The current machines do not do this and appear to be industry standard where they still have customer serve machines. The robotic dispenser behind the counter does not appear to wash itself between pours either.

[SamSpade]

I was just at the Aria Las Vegas and their (upscale?) food hall that replaced the buffet, "Proper Eats," has 3 Coca-cola Freestyle machines.

Also, I'm not sure what's happened but Coca-cola appears to have really crashed into Las Vegas outside Caesars and Boyd properties.