Pepsi’s futuristic dispenser Pepsi Spire lets mix beverages in up to 1,000 ways

Pepsi has revealed its brand-new fountain machines and now invites its American consumers to test them and customize their drinks. The largest social-vending machine called Pepsi Spire lets passers-by create their own drink in 1,000 ways, and also share beverages freely.

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Photo: Pepsi Spire machines, www.pepsispire.com

Pepsi Spire features a wide selection of PepsiCo’s carbonated and non-carbonated beverages such as the flagship brand Pepsi as well as Mountain Dew, Sierra Mist, Brisk Iced Tea and SoBe Lifewater and a range of zero-calorie flavor shots (cherry, lime, vanilla, raspberry and more). The press release states that the idea of Pepsi Spire comes from the Pepsi Touch Tower machine, which was piloted in the USA in 2013 and arrived in Europe, Central America and the Caribbean.

The new dispenser is inspired by the design ethos, reflected in PepsiCo’s recent machine innovations such as Interactive Vending Machine and Smart Cooler. Depending on the model—1.1, 2.0 and 5.0,—the sleek white futuristic Pepsi Spire machine features a digital touchscreen of different sizes (10, 15 and 32 inches) and allows to mix from 40 up to 1,000 beverages.

A dedicated micro site features a map that allows U.S. consumers to find the machines in their city. So far, the state with the most Pepsi Spire machines is Minnesota (22), followed by Illinois (13), New York (10) and Florida (10). The site says that more machines, which come as rivals to Coke’s innovative dispencers, will be launched across the country and globaly soon.

“In this facility alone we’ve cycled through hundreds of consumers of different ages, who have interacted with the user experience and the [user interface] of the machines,” commented Brad Jakeman, PepsiCo’s president-global beverages group, to AdAge. “We wanted to make it as intuitive as possible and find the perfect balance between consumer engagement and efficiency.”