How Coke Freestyle Machines And AI Personalized Recipes Work: An Exclusive Look Behind The Scenes

Coca-Cola has come a long way since its first pour. Introduced in a pharmacy selling just nine glasses a day, the soda company has grown to become one of the world's leading drink suppliers serving more than 1.9 billion beverages daily. The company has also expanded well beyond the standard glass bottle of Coke, offering fizzy lemon-lime sodas, root beers, and a variety of flavored lemonades. But even with all that expansion and change, when you think of a Coca-Cola, that same cool, refreshing, dark, and fizzy drink wrapped in red and white is the first thing that comes to mind.

Coke Freestyle machines are the embodiment of the classic brand evolving with the world around it. The touch screen beverage dispensers present seemingly endless choice to Coke consumers, offering hundreds of flavor options and fountain drink combinations at a variety of fast food restaurants, movie theaters, and beyond. Naturally, the next evolution for such a tech-forward product involves artificial intelligence. And though several industries and businesses have begun integrating and relying on AI, it's not something we've seen a lot of in food and beverage — at least not yet. So how exactly do Coke Freestyle machines work and where does AI fit into the flavor-filled mix? We visited Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta to find out, sitting down with the director of Freestyle marketing, Ellis Chambers, and the senior director of data and analytics, Omri Duek, for a comprehensive rundown on all things Coke Freestyle.

First, let's start with the machines themselves. Think of the Freestyle machine as a computerized version of the classic soda fountain – you know, the kind with eight or so flavors, each with its own nozzle for dispensing into a cup. The Freestyle machines take this concept and computerize it, instead dispensing hundreds of drinks out of a single nozzle. This streamlines the process of choosing a drink, but also revolutionizes it, allowing the user the freedom to pour any flavor in any amount.

From the outside the interface is pretty straightforward, especially if you've been a smartphone user for the past decade or so. Where the magic really happens is on the inside: the machine holds a series of flavor cartridges, each containing the individual ingredients needed to create drinks. When a guest decides on a drink — particularly one with multiple flavors — the dispenser pulls from the requisite cartridges, blending together the selected flavors on the spot and subsequently dispensing them using what Chambers calls "microdosing technology." That means each drink chosen is made on-demand and mixed according to the unique recipe installed in the computer of the machine. That technology combined with several dozen ingredient cartridges makes it possible to create familiar flavors like Vanilla Coke, as well unique ones like Vanilla Hi-C, Sprite, and Barq's, too.

The Share a Coke campaign is something you might already be familiar with thanks to the hard-to-miss marketing: nearly every Coke can or bottle across the country has been brandished with a name, nickname, or slogan. Coke has rolled out similar versions of this campaign before, but this time around, the company is bringing it to Freestyle by adding another layer of customization with — you guessed it — AI. "[It] helps to scale the ability to personalize those drinks," Chambers explains. In other words, you can customize both the drink's name and the drink itself.

The Share a Coke campaign with personalized cans and bottles has been a hit in the past, and this takes it a futuristic step further in an approachable way. It's simple on purpose, giving the consumer the ability to interact with artificial intelligence without reducing the efficiency of pouring a drink. Functionally, in the Share a Coke program, the AI is taking the given prompts and is pairing them with the installed cartridges to create recipes. Think of it this way: It's similar to telling ChatGPT to develop a recipe for someone based on their characteristics, but having the program make the recipe as well. It's helpful for Coke, too. Aside from engaging consumers in a fun, personal way, according to Duek, the system allows Coke to grow its recipe and product development capabilities as well. 

To share a Coke on the Freestyle machines, you'll first pull out your smartphone, open the camera, and scan the QR code on the side of the machine, which will bring you to the Share a Coke homepage — no app needed. The site offers you a drop-down list of names to choose from. This — like the names on the sides of the cans — is the first part of the Share a Coke personalization, and the name that will appear on the screen while you or the person you share it with pours. The next step is choosing the descriptors that will personalize the drink itself, covertly appearing as virtual "stickers" you can click and add to the drink. The screen prompts you to choose three of these options (which read things like "chill," "cute," and "sweet," among others) to add to your virtual cup, which provide input for the machine's computer to help it determine what drink to pour.

When ready, the machine will display the chosen name. Place a cup under the dispenser as usual, and then — in what is arguably the coolest part — you tap a button on your phone to dispense the drink. Once filled, you can taste the mix that AI dreamed up using the prompts you selected. This entire experience can be done for yourself or shared with a friend, who receives a link to the customized recipe that you just designed. When your friend receives the link, they can head to the nearest Freestyle machine, purchase a drink, and use the it to access their custom mix.

There are nearly 50,000 Coke Freestyle machines nationwide located in quick service, fast casual, and fast food burger restaurants like Wendy's, Five Guys, and Burger King, as well as movie theaters, museums, sports arenas, and stadiums. To narrow down where exactly to find a machine, Coke Freestyle has a handy map online that displays every dispenser within 5, 10, or even 75 miles of the given location.

While the link to your personalized recipe can be shared with anyone, anywhere — even within an Instagram story or Facebook post — the person receiving the drink will still have to find a machine location, pay for a drink, and activate the code in order to participate in the Share a Coke experience. Chambers explains the QR code essentially works as a "digital handshake" with the Freestyle machine, meaning the program currently requires the original user and the receiver be in-person to scan it, though not necessarily at the same time or location. The links can be used anytime and in any location before the end of the campaign on May 31, so whomever you share a Coke with can be right by your side or all the way across the country.

While artificial intelligence isn't necessarily brand new, most of the world is still figuring out how to use it efficiently in everyday life. Companies like Coca-Cola are working on this diligently, using AI to not only improve efficiency behind the scenes but also make for a better consumer experience. Both Chambers and Duek agree that Freestyle isn't integrating AI "just for AI's sake," but rather, to amplify the work Coke Freestyle already believes in, beginning with a simple program anyone can use. "[This] analyzes historical data, user inputs, and real-time dispenser ingredient availability to suggest personalized recipes," Chambers explains, and makes informed predictions based on inputs. 

What does this mean for the future of Coke Freestyle? Possibly more unique, better-than-bottled flavors — or making already personalized beverages that much more so. "You can expect to see evolving iterations of that experience as our team continues to advance the technology," Chambers shares. It could potentially draw on more specific factors like local weather, facial expressions, or even your mood, as demoed in a quiz-like format for us at Coke HQ. 

What interesting flavors might those individualistic intricacies produce? Only time will tell, but it may not be long before your phone knows your drink preference better than you do.