This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Cross a touchscreen computer with a soda fountain and you get a high-tech answer to the newest and coolest in soft drink dispensers.
More than a year ago, the Coca Cola company began testing a new soda fountain called Coca Cola Freestyle that delivers 106 different soft drink flavors from Diet Coke with raspberry to Powerade Zero with grape. Salt Lake City was one of the first three cities, along with Atlanta (where Coca Cola is headquartered) and Orange County, Calif., to get the machines.
With the Freestyle machines, customers use an LCD screen where they touch the flavor they want by making a selection on an interface that branches out with each press. Touch the Diet Coke button, for example, and you're greeted with six different Diet Coke choices, including with lime, lemon vanilla, orange and cherry.
There are currently two styles of the machine, a self-serve model and a smaller one for restaurants that are operated by the employees.
"The response has been great," said Wally Helton, director of food and beverages, merchandising and promotions for Cinemark Theatres. The Cinemark-owned Century 16 Theatres in Sandy is one of seven locations in Utah with the machines. "The people are amazed at the hundred-plus choices. They're used to seeing maybe eight choices, and then all of a sudden there's bubbles to no bubbles, caffeine to no caffeine. It can be a relief especially for diabetics because now there's more choices for them. It opens up a lot, and it's an amazing piece of equipment."
The Freestyle machine uses a new way of dispensing highly-concentrated syrups from cartridges, much like ink cartridges are used in office printers, as one movie theater vendor described it.
The VHS-tape-sized cartridges inside the machine release an exact amount of newly-formulated flavors using technology similar to what pharmaceutical companies use for dispensing certain types of drugs. It's then mixed with sweetener and soda water that are housed outside the machine for a perfect mix of soda. Coca Cola has dubbed it "PurePour Technology."
"It's this micro-dosing that allows us to save space but provide a high-quality beverage," said Sydney Taylor, group director of marketing and innovation for Coca Cola Freestyle.
In addition to the beverage that's dispensed, the new machine also delivers the perfect database for who's drinking what.
The computer in the machine counts what customers drink and then sends that marketing information by phone to Coca Cola headquarters in Atlanta. It also will automatically alert Coca Cola representatives when the machine is running out of certain flavors.
"We have an amazing technology that allows us to get all of the consumption data by the minute," Taylor said. "Then there is a certain time frame, and it's downloaded, and we read the information by dispenser and by outlet."
But all that wizardry for a soda fountain comes at an extra cost, said Regina Colon, manager of the downtown Salt Lake City Cafe Rio restaurant, which has two of the machines. She said the cost of running the machine, which retailers can only rent from Coca Cola, is higher than normal soda fountains. Flavor cartridge costs as much as $45 to $50 each, and there are at least 20 of them in each machine, she said.
And if you're already imagining what one of these machines would be like in your kitchen or movie room, get ready to be disappointed. Taylor said they're currently not for sale to regular consumers.
vince@sltrib.com. Twitter: twitter.com/ohmytech.