Automatic Merchandiser - 15

SodaStream Professional

PepsiCo

give consumers an entirely contactless
coffee experience.
"We created Sophia Touchless
Solutions to offer a safer alternative to the coffee industry and to the
consumers," said François Baron, CEO
of Cafection | Evoca. "The growing
demand for cleaner and safer solutions
led us to create a contactless ordering
technology that can be added on most
Cafection brewers equipped with a
screen. With Sophia Touchless Solutions, OCS operators are now able to
offer a secure coffee environment to
their customers."
In most cases, OCS operators can
enable touchless ordering through a
simple software upgrade that takes less
than 15 minutes, Baron added.
Equipment manufacturers are
offering contactless solutions for
workplace beverage options beyond
coffee. PepsiCo recently announced
the fall launch of the SodaStream
Professional, an eco-friendly,
mobile-enabled beverage dispenser
that allows users to personalize
flavors, carbonation levels and temperatures through the SodaStream
Connect mobile app. Users can

digitally track their water consumption, save their favorite drink combinations and see how many plastic
bottles they've saved by using the
SodaStream Professional instead of
bottled water.
"As businesses reopen, many
are thinking about the connection
between people health and planet
health," explained Aziel Rivers, senior
director of innovation, PepsiCo
Global Foodservice. "It's a unique
challenge for operators who want to
offer variety to guests without taking
away the ease and personalization

For the purpose of safety,
people want less bulk and
more single-use, so you're
not going to see cream
and sugar canisters,
you're going to see singlepackaged goods."
Mike Coffey, chief strategy and
innovation officer at Canteen.

of self-serve equipment. That's what
makes SodaStream Professional an
ideal option for operators in a postCOVID-19 world. SodaStream Professional reimagines the typical water
dispenser to offer a totally customized
experience through its digital interface and connected mobile app."
Rivers said that the SodaStream
Professional allows users to personalize their beverage with more than 100
flavor combinations, all through a
virtually contactless experience.
"Using their smartphones, people
can save their perfect drink and fill
up their reusable water bottle with
just one tap," he added. "Reusable
water bottles can use a specially
designated QR code to recognize
your favorite selection and history.
For those who choose not to use
the app, SodaStream Professional
requires just a few quick on-screen
selections and a designated dispense
area so people can fill up their bottles
without touching the spigot."
Jones said that Pot O' Gold is currently using touchless solutions for its
OCS accounts, and he's keeping an eye
on new technologies in this space.
"We are well-equipped and currently have a number of machines
in our office set up with touchless
features - this is definitely going to
be a turning point in our industry that
we are ready and excited for," Jones
said. "As soon as we were made aware
of manufacturers developing these
machines, we advertised it to our
customers and have received a lot of
interest and great feedback."
While most OCS operators experienced declines due to clients' employees working from home during the
COVID crisis, there is a belief that as
long as people come to the workplace,
they are going to expect to have access
to coffee.
"Coffee in this space is going to be
different, but we know it's a necessity,"
Coffey said. "People want coffee." ■
August 2020 * VendingMarketWatch.com

15
http://www.VendingMarketWatch.com
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