Robo-Coke

Posted By elissa on Aug 5, 2009 | 1 comment

Introducing Coca-Cola Freestyle, the soda fountain of the future.

According to the San Diego News Network, test units are being employed in Atlanta, GA and Southern California.  They’re planning a nationwide roll-out in 2010.

The Coca-Cola Freestyle uses a touch-screen interface that presents consumers with a choice of 18 “parent” brands like Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite, Diet Sprite, Fanta, Powerade, and more. After selecting one of those parent brands, they then select different flavors of the beverage. For instance, for Coke and Diet Coke, users can select, vanilla, lime, cherry, and even orange and raspberry.

“There are a lot of flavors you can’t get anywhere else,” said Kench, noting that the orange and raspberry flavors aren’t available in retail. “Today, consumers have more choices than ever before, so we’re just feeding them more choices for their Coca-Cola beverages.”

In addition, there are other uniquely-flavored drinks available, including strawberry, grape or peach Sprite (which is very tasty), seven kinds of Fanta, seven kinds of Powerade, six flavors of Vault energy drink, and just as many flavors of Dasani water, or its carbonated counterpart Dasani Sensations.

…So, if you’ve ever thought to yourself, “I could really use a Strawberry Sprite or a Raspberry Coke,” — and honestly, who among us hasn’t – your wishes may come true in the very near future.

I hope the author was being sarcastic there… I can honestly say I’ve never longed for either one. And now that I know they exist, I couldn’t care less. The US is smack in the middle of an obesity crisis, after all, so “more choices” for our “Coca-Cola beverages” aren’t exactly what we need right now (even if the technology is sorta cool…).