Self-Serve Soda Dispensers Disappearing at McDonald’s

McDonald’s is in the midst of a pervasive effort to get rid of the self-serve soda walls in its restaurants. Instead, at more and more McDs, patrons order their drink at the counter with the rest of their meal, and the crew preps the beverage and puts it on a tray with the Big Mac, fries and whatever else has been ordered.

Why is this happening? Emma Bates, a writer for RecipeHeaven, recently detailed the factors underlying the change. (Related note: for now, according to a variety of related news stories, McDonald’s has little company in banishing its self-service soda dispensers; no similar moves are apparently afoot at either Burger King nor Wendy’s, for instance.)

That said, per Bates, here the main reasons for the swap-out:

* “It has very little to do with people sneaking Coke into water cups, even though franchise owners will tell you that happens plenty. McDonald’s wants every drink in the system poured the same way, by the same people, whether the order came from a kiosk, the app, a delivery driver, the drive-thru or the register. The soda fountain was the last part of the operation that customers still ran themselves, and the dining room is no longer where the business happens…”

* “…The fountain going away coincides with McDonald’s deciding beverages are its growth engine. The chain rolled out six new specialty drinks nationwide this past May; three Refreshers and three are “dirty sodas. Not one of those comes out of a lobby fountain. Popping boba, freeze-dried fruit and cold foam are assembled by a worker at a station, which is the quiet logic of the whole thing: McDonald’s is rebuilding beverages into something you order and pay for by name, not something you top off for free on your way out.”

Finally, Bates notes that taking the self-serve machines out is no small task; the plumbing that feeds the lobby fountain has to be rerouted behind the front counter, which is a front-counter remodel. Which is one of the main reasons the changeover is taking place slowly but surely across the chain’s franchise network, with a slated completion of 2033. The fountain rework is also part of a larger restaurant renovation program that McD’s detailed earlier this year as part of its Restaurant > NEXT initiative.