CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- PAJCO Inc. is the first convenience store marketer to offer the Coca-Cola Freestyle, The Coca-Cola Co.'s new proprietary fountain technology in the Midwestern United States. PAJCO plans to feature Coca-Cola Freestyle in 11 of its Rhodes 101 Stops and Mercato di Rodi c-store locations. It will debut additional units in other PAJCO locations in 2012.
The Cape Girardeau, Mo.-based chain operates nearly 30 c-stores and a truckstop.
The new fountains are touch-screen operated, enabling people to select from more than 101 regular and low-calorie brands--including many varieties of waters, sports drinks, lemonades and sparkling beverages that, prior to the arrival of Coca-Cola Freestyle, were not available in the United States. The self-serve fountains were in development for more than four years prior to launching in 2010.
"We have created a concept that has quickly become recognized as the soda fountain of the future--a representation of the way people will experience Coca-Cola beverages years from now," said Gene Farrell, vice president and general manager, Coca-Cola Freestyle.
In-market results indicate an increase in beverage servings, total transactions and total restaurant sales. The Coca-Cola Freestyle fountain uses proprietary Purepour Technology and has the capacity to dispense more than 101 beverage varieties in the same amount of space as a standard eight-valve machine.
"We are honored to be recognized by Coca-Cola as the only convenience retailer in our region to offer Coca-Cola Freestyle to our customers at this time. The product quality and interactive customer experience will be unmatched and only build on our reputation of providing the best quality dispensed drinks available for our guests," said Keith Boeller, president of PAJCO.
Coca-Cola Freestyle is now available in more than 1,700 outlets and more than 75 markets across 39 states, including Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C. The company plans future U.S. introductions throughout 2011.
The Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, has a brand portfolio that includes Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Coca-Cola Zero, Vitamin Water, Powerade, Minute Maid, Simply and Georgia. Globally, it is the leading provider of sparkling beverages, juices and juice drinks and ready-to-drink teas and coffees.
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