PepsiCo Inc. plans to start testing in restaurants a new fountain machine, the Touch Tower 1.0, that lets people create a variety of flavor combinations, such as strawberry Mountain Dew.
The test follows Coca-Cola‘s introduction in 2009 of its Freestyle machine, which also lets customers touch a screen to pick from a wide array of flavor combinations.
PepsiCo’s test is set to begin at five Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill restaurants in Denver, Colorado, next week.
Gina Anderson, a spokesperson for PepsiCo, told that the Touch Tower machines let people add up to four flavor shots – lemon, cherry, strawberry or vanilla – to eight varieties of drinks. That means people could create drinks like strawberry Pepsi or lemon Mountain Dew.
She said the company has other tests planned and that the Touch Tower being introduced in Denver is the first in a series of new fountain equipment the company is considering.