Coca-Cola Freestyle machines on the way out?

marshd1000
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 587
Joined: March 2nd, 2009, 1:46 pm
Been thanked: 12 times
Status: Offline

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

Post by marshd1000 »

Taco Time Northwest seems to be getting rid of the Freestyle machines. When they remodeled the Renton Fairwood location, they took it out and the same with Bellevue Factoria.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

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

Post by storewanderer »

The only thing I like about these machines is they usually dispense a single flavor of seltzer water (that may have changed now).

As an iced tea drinker I typically have to interact with one of these machines only for the purpose of obtaining ice. It is not unusual when dispensing ice to have some red syrup drip out from the thing so it gets cherry syrup into the ice. Also the lever that the cup goes against is always sticky and that often transfers onto the cup. I really dislike these machines in the form they are in at Wendys, Five Guys, etc.

Safeway has some tiny versions of this machine in some stores (closed since COVID) and I have used those to obtain ice a few times and have not noticed the syrup dripping down issue.
buckguy
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1004
Joined: January 31st, 2017, 10:54 am
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 61 times
Status: Offline

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

Post by buckguy »

They seem like a "good idea" that doesn't work very well in practice. The drinks tend have an "off taste" because you're not making a clean start with every drink. The stations don't seem to be cleaned often enough in many places and I remember lot of reliability problems in the beginning. A lot of people just seem to have difficulty using them.

Coca-Cola's US market has been stagnating and declining for years. This doesn't seem like a way to rescue it.
Alpha8472
Posts: 3929
Joined: February 24th, 2009, 8:55 pm
Been thanked: 79 times
Status: Offline

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

Post by Alpha8472 »

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.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

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

Post by storewanderer »

How about the draft type equipment that A&W used to use for root beer? That was really good stuff... in the 90's.
Alpha8472
Posts: 3929
Joined: February 24th, 2009, 8:55 pm
Been thanked: 79 times
Status: Offline

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

Post by Alpha8472 »

Many Burger King restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area have gotten rid of the Coke Freestyle machines in recent months. I was shocked as Burger King had almost entirely switched to Coke Freestyle in the San Francisco Bay Area.

People probably hated the bitter aftertaste. Everything that comes out of the same tube seems to be bitter like artificial sweeteners even if it is not diet soda.

The soda selection is more limited now, but the soda tastes normal again without any weird bitterness.

Even at Jack In The Box they don't seem to have Coke Freestyle options at the drive-thru. You have to choose a standard soda and then go inside to use the Coke Freestyle machine. You end up pouring out a perfectly good soda. You cannot choose a mixed flavor on the app.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

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

Post by storewanderer »

The Reno Jack in the Box units and some Wendys units have smaller size Freestyle machines being used at drive through. There is a speed issue with these machines, it takes twice as long due to having to punch multiple screens to dispense. It is only a second or two but seconds add up over hundreds of drinks a day. In the case of Jack in the Box they had to move the soda machine in some locations to a space in front of the prep area instead of right next to the window due to space situations, adding additional footsteps with drinks.

I was recently somewhere that had these machines and pulled them out. I forget where it was... may have been a gas station.

These machines seem to be on the way out.
jamcool
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1019
Joined: March 5th, 2009, 10:27 pm
Been thanked: 50 times
Status: Offline

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

Post by jamcool »

I noticed when Culver’s switched to Coke products earlier this year they kept their existing equipment….no Freestyle units.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

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

Post by storewanderer »

jamcool wrote: June 28th, 2023, 7:56 am I noticed when Culver’s switched to Coke products earlier this year they kept their existing equipment….no Freestyle units.
Coke is making people pay leases for these machines. They try to rebate the cost back through discounts on the syrup, etc.

I can see why they would keep their existing (likely fully paid for/owned) simple fountain equipment.

Dr. Pepper in some areas is distributed by Coke and is supposed to be included in these machines regardless of who distributed it in a given area, but there seems to be some issue. In my area, Dr. Pepper is NOT distributed by Coke and every one of these machines has Mr. Pibb instead of Dr. Pepper.

So it is possible Culver's wanted to sell Dr. Pepper and as such could not move to these machines.

Also Culver's has a proprietary root beer and it is possible that could not be distributed via Freestyle machines due to the micro syrup cartridge thing.
veteran+
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
Posts: 2234
Joined: January 3rd, 2015, 7:53 am
Has thanked: 1204 times
Been thanked: 72 times
Status: Offline

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

Post by veteran+ »

Dr. Pepper, 7-UP, etc. (Keurig/Dr. Pepper Co.) is often distributed by Coca Cola, Pepsi and others including by Dr. Pepper-7-UP itself.

The majority of the distributors are actually "bottling companies".

The "syrup" company is often different that the bottler - distributor.
Post Reply