Besides giving consumers more beverage options, the new Coca Cola Freestyle machines provide restaurateurs and Coca-Cola Co. with an unprecedented level of information, offering statistics on exactly which drinks are being ordered, including and how much, and when, according to The Charlotte Observer in Charlotte, N.C.
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Editor’s Insight: Coca Cola Co. demonstrated the Freestyle machine at this year’s National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA) OneShow in Chicago, and the machine, while not officially offered as a vending machine, generated a lot of interest among vending operators.
Coca Cola officials said they were showing the Freestyle at NAMA to gauge interest among vending operators. The Freestyle machine provides a new level of product variety but has other benefits as well; being a touchscreen machine, it engages the end user in a new and exciting way. It also addresses a concern that is particularly important to refreshments service operators: it has a small footprint. Coca Cola officials have not yet announced plans to offer a vending version of this machine. If and when they do, it could begin a new day for the refreshment services industry. 07-18-11
