• Perfide@reddthat.com
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      1 year ago

      This is bullshit. Even with multiple refills, the biggest hit to their margins on the soft drinks is the actual cup itself. The syrup is basically free in the quantities they buy it in, and the water is filtered(…hopefully) tap water.

      • cassetti@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        Oh I’m not disagreeing with you that it’s a bullshit reason - but I can bet that some penny pincher accountant working at McDonalds proved the company could save $X million (single digit lol) if they did this change. Never forget how a dude working for American Airlines in the 1980’s figured out that removing one olive from each salad in first class would save over $40k per year.

      • Zoboomafoo@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        You’re missing an ingredient, the CO2. There’s two main sources for food-grade CO2 in the USA, natural gas refining and mining it from resevoirs. The largest resevoir in the USA (An extinct volcano in Mississippi) was contaminated by a pocket of radioactive gas. And sanctions on Russsia drove the price up in that market.

        I like mixing frozen juice concentrate with soda water but its gotten too expensive in the past few years

    • chuckleslord@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I can tell you this, there’s no way to operate those machines that doesn’t give a massive profit margin. This isn’t about affordability, it’s about control.

    • Nommer@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Partially true. I fix coke stuff for a living. They do keep it chilled with a multiplex unit in the backroom. That’s the secret to their pop. It’s basically a big tank of water with coiled copper tubes to chill the water to just below freezing. There’s an agitator motor to keep it from icing over completely and that cold water is recirculated 24/7 to keep drinks cold. But they absolutely do not add more syrup than anybody else and it’s the exact same formula as anywhere else.

      The real reason is that they’re switching to automated processes. Customer comes in, punches button on screen, drink served. Plus many don’t want to dump their older ABS 1.0 machines after upgrading the one in the drive through to a newer 2.0.