Fountain Fresh faces 2000 with appropriate system
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Rick Maynes, CEO and president of Fountain Fresh International (Salt Lake City, UT) has his mind clearly set on the future-a good 41 months ahead, judging by the name of the company's newest supermarket serve-yourself system.
Fountain Fresh's game is convincing consumers that it's better fill their soft drink and water needs at FF's dispensing stations rather than buy prepackaged products. To make that case more appealing, the Salt Lakers have introduced the Beverage Center 2000.
"Dispensing technology has made some vast improvements over the last five years," says Maynes. "Our old dispensers weren't pressure-filled and looked somewhat dated on the outside. With the Beverage Center 2000, we've incorporated electronics into the dispensers, which allows the system to be more compact, and have developed a new patented proportioning pump to prevent an improper mixing of product."
In early June, Smith's Food and Drug Center announced plans to install the new Beverage Center 2000 in four of its Utah-based stores. WalMart Stores announced a few days later that it had authorized the installation of five new Beverage Center 2000s in its stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
"The Fountain Fresh beverage concept fits very nicely into Wal-Mart's mission of lowering costs to consumers and being an environmentally conscious merchandiser," says Don Cannon, vice president of food merchandising for the megaretailer. "Based on the successful test results of the Fountain Fresh system beverage system in our stores in Oklahoma, Texas and Kentucky, we are now in a gradual buildout of the stores in our Texas Division."
Besides making a bigger splash in the US market, Fountain Fresh also is broadening its international horizons. According to Maynes, Beverage Centers have now been placed in over a halfdozen countries around the globe, including Australia, Russia and Malaysia.
Speaking of Malaysia, Fountain Fresh's second new dispensing system came about as a result of the company's venture into this country. Earlier this year, Fountain Fresh teamed up with Malaysia's Antah Holdings Bhd to begin development of a new cupfilling fountain tower soft drink dispensing system. This unit is now undergoing field tests, with an eye toward tapping into convenience stores, fast food restaurants and small beverage marketers.
"The system also brings to the cup-fill beverage industry two important innovations," says Maynes. "First, it permits consistently accurate proportioning of syrup to water, assuring customers high-quality drinks with every fill. Secondly, it permits...delivery of diet drinks using 100-percent aspartame instead of saccharin."
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FOUNTAIN FRESH, call SOI/538-0060. or circle 49
Fill 'er up? The Idea appeals to Wal-Mart.
Copyright Keller International Publishing Corporation Jul 31, 1996
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