This has been sticking in my brain for days.
Does the ice in a fountain drink cost more than the syrup? I don’t find it hard to believe, but I lack facts (hint, hint).
Peace,
mangeorge
Relatively, it sounds feasible. On a whole mind you, maybe… If you count in the costs of water and the cost of the ice machine, its maintenance (filter, sanitation, and repairs) and the electricity for a constantly running and producing machine. Not to mention the labor costs of having employees lug ice from the machine in the back to the ice holders out in front. Syrup on its lonesome and at bulk wholesale prices is probably relatively inexpensive. Another thing that is important to note is that carbonated water is also usually made on premises with cylinders of CO2 and a carbonater, so it’s very possible that the “processed water’” (ice and soda water) in a cup of pop might very well have cost more than the relatively small amount of syrup.
The syrup is often given away by the pop company for free, as a form of advertising for customers to buy it in the grocery store.
From what I understand, the most expensive component of the fountain drink is the cup, which is why free refills are so common.
I don’t think the ice is going to cost more but the overall cost of a 32oz soda is incredibly small for a large company like McDonalds. It might be as little as 15 cents for a $1.50 drink including the cup, the ice, the syrup, and the carbonated water. The total cost is hard to calculate though because of so many variables like labor and general maintenance of the machines. Ice is also very easy and cheap to make in bulk. I have talked to gas station owners that claim it only takes 15 - 30 cents to make a 10lb bag and that will fill up a lot of cups.
When I worked in hotels, we ran resturants and such, and most of the time the large drink cost the company about 5¢ (more or less) and that included cups and straws. Even if you were to take into account rent on the building, server’s wages etc, I would be hard pressed to say it’d be more than 10¢ at most.
Fries another another cheap thing you can sell for a lot. That is why McDonalds always asks “would you like fries with that?”
On a side note, I remember when I lived in the Florida Keys the fast food resturants and other snack type shops would always say 10¢ or 25¢ more for drinks without ice.
Do you have a cite?
No cite here, but I’ve heard the same. Maybe in smaller joints. Kinda like that old SNL line:
“No Coke! Pepsi!”
Okay, maybe I’m dating myself. It was funny when you were stoned.
There’s an old thread about McDonald’s getting free syrup from back in '02, but you can bet your ass I’m not going to link to it. I got hollered at once for that. I had to go to my room.
The answer was, after a somewhat prolonged bitch session, “no”.
Who messed up my thread title? It’s supposed to be “Ice costs more than syrup?”.
Probably a mod did it.
For what it’s worth, most fast-food-type establishments don’t use cylinders of carbon dioxide. Too expensive. They likely have storage tanks and have the CO2 delivered in bulk.
Not that that has any bearing on the question at hand.
Well, I can’t speak for all establishments, but the places I was employed at IME, always had CO2 cylinders, delivered, I suppose, in bulk.
From my experience working in a fast food store:
Nope: The syrup is far from free. In fact, Coca Cola was originally only a fountain drink, and they didn’t even want to bother with bottling it. Coca Cola originally gave away the bottling rights thinking they weren’t worth anything. To this day, Coca Cola Company sells the syrup directly to vendors instead of it being done through the bottling companies. You want to sell Coke, you buy the syrup.
What many companies do give away (or rent for free) is the fountain machine.Sign an exclusivity agreement, buy a certain amount of syrup per month, and the machine is yours rent free. Offer only Coca Cola based products, and Coca Cola company gives you the fountain machine. You want to sell 7-Up, and the machine goes.
In a certain sense, yes, you are buying the cup when you buy the drink. Take an empty cup, and most places will charge you for the full price of a drink. Ask for a refill, and a few places will grant your wish. However, it isn’t because the cup is that expensive. Instead, most companies use the cups to track sales. If I start off with 4000 cups, and I sell 1000 drinks. My manager will make sure there are 3000 cups left in stock.
Fountain drinks are a great money maker. A cup is about 4 to 5 cents a piece. Ice is a less than a penny. Fountain syrup is about a dime. Water is practically free. Carbonation is about a penny per cup. Total cost might be about 15 cents per drink, yet, you’re probably charged about a dollar. Even better is the bigger cup. The cost of the cup doesn’t go up that dramatically, everything else is a bit more, but now you’re charged $1.50. Bigger the cup, the bigger the profit. No wonder convenience stores are pushing bigger and bigger drinks.
And not everyone gives free refills. Many convenience stores don’t because young kids will buy a small cup and refill a cup four or five times. Or, even worse, share the cup with their friends. Movie theaters are much more likely because most people simply don’t bother with refills. People buy a large enough soda to last them through the movie. They don’t want to leave in the middle just to get a free drink.
Many people might also be embarrassed to ask for a refill or to take one themselves. In the book Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World, Greg Critser talks about the invention of supersizing. A movie theater owner wanted to increase popcorn sales, but despite special twofer offers, people still only bought a single serving. However, when he offered bigger sizes, people took them even though it was the same amount as two individual services. People didn’t want to be seen eating from two boxes of popcorn because it looked gluttonous, but eating out of a single trough-sized box was okay.
In most cases the most expensive item in the cost to the retailer for a “fountain” drink Is the minimum wage guy who hands it to you.
Tris
Cost wise: Syrup is the most expensive, and then maybe the cup. The price of ice? Run down to the neighborhood 7-11 and see what the price of a 20 pound bag of ice is. That’ll fill a lot of cups.
Carbonation might be next, and the water is on the bottom. Actually, the soda fountain itself is free if the store signs an exclusivity agreement and buys a certain amount of syrup (and other supplies) each month.
Still, we’re talking less than 20 cents per cup. Maybe even less than 15 cents. When I was doing this type of stuff (mumble) years ago, our cost was less than 2 cents per cup and we were selling the small size for 65 cents. The bigger double-the-size-16 ounce cup was about $1.20. Our cost was less than 3 cents per cup. The largest gluttonous size (24 ounces) was something like a $1.40 and we would sometimes sell it for 99 cents “on special”. Our cost for this was still under 4 cents per cup. The idea was to get people use to the largest (and most profitable serving), so when it came off special, they would still order it.
Yes, I fill guilty for my brief role in creating the American obesity epidemic, but I was only following orders.
Mimimum wage in CA is, I think, $8/00/hr. At 100cups/hour, that would be 8c/cup.
Could be, I guess. How many drinks does a server handle?
Whatchu talking about, mangeorge?
The rule has always been that it’s perfectly okay, in fact encouraged, to link to old threads. It’s resurrecting them by posting to them that is verboten, because that’s what produces a zombie thread.
Well, okay.
It is an entertaining read. 
mangeorge, (wiping sweaty brow).
That cost is mostly eliminated these days. Most fast food restaurants you go to, they put an empty cup on your tray and tell you to get your own damn drinks.
And I thought that was because I only get water.