From the doors of the Cabin John California Tortilla, a silver soda machine’s illuminated LCD screen glows like a gadget from “The Jetsons.”  With touch-screen technology, customers can now choose their soda from 106 varieties of Coca-Cola products.

The sleek soda fountain, called the “Freestyle,” blends concentrated ingredients with water and sweetener at the fountain’s dispensing point to form a wide variety of flavors.

“Freestyle provides an engaging consumer experience, delivers measurable operational improvements, and drives incremental purchase and traffic to customer outlets,” said Ashleigh Collins, a senior Coca-Cola account executive.

The new dispenser creates opportunities for customers that couldn’t exist without the machine, Collins added.

“It was really strange and something I would only try because they had it,” junior Abhi Setlur said of the peach Coke flavor.

The machine has 65 caffeine-free and 60 low-calorie sodas, including sparkling beverages, flavored waters and sports drinks. Some of the machine’s beverages haven’t been sold in the U.S. before.

Restaurants have reported several benefits from the machines, including dramatic soda sale increases, said Stacey Kane, California Tortilla’s marketing director.

Before offering it to businesses country-wide, the Coca-Cola Co. offered the Freestyle to some major U.S. cities. In addition to the Cabin John California Tortilla, a Wegmans in Lanham, Md., and a local Popeye’s have installed the fountain.

“We’re all about giving our customers a myriad of choices when they come into the restaurant,” Kane said. “’Freestyle’ machines are an extension of that.”

The Coca-Cola Co. also plans to introduce a different version of the fountain for drive-thru ordering, wait staff and other non-self serve locations in the near feature, Collins said.

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