Making Headway in Underserved Markets
Our Solution
Deliver a multi beverage dispenser that can serve a mix of hot and cold non carbonated beverages.
The Result
A multi beverage dispenser serving a combo of 11 hot and cold non carbonated beverages in the most compact footprint possible.
Services
Industrial Design
Mechanical Engineering
Materials Innovation
Hardware PackagingÂ
Production Transition
Regulatory Support
The Story
Traditional beverage dispensers aka fountains had been designed for high footfall markets such as cinema halls or malls or food chains such as KFC/Pizza Hut and so on. Given the high consumption in these markets, product cost amortization was never the problem. However these markets constitute less than 20% of India. Smaller stalls/kiosks in mom and pop stores or small restaurants make up the lion’s share of touch points between Pepsico and its consumers. While cumulatively they consume far more than the large footfall venues, they lack in per capita consumption. Moreover the consumers at these touch points prefer non carbonated beverages to the core Pepsico offerings. Pepsico’s GVIC asked us to come up with a solution that would address this underserved market segment.
The soft drink market in India remains heavily skewed toward returnable bottles, with around 85% of soft drinks sold that way in earlier years, especially in non-urban or price-sensitive segments
THE CHALLENGE
Engineering a Human-Centric Solution
Our process began not with technology, but with people. We carried out a study of mom and pop stores, canteens, bus and railway station kiosks to understand the space available for deployment.
This research revealed key design imperatives: the product would only have accessibility for refills and routine maintenance from the front. Side access was a virtual no-no as more often than not, it would be stacked between shelves that contained other merchandise. The product would have to support a 20 L water bubble as there was no guarantee of running water. Sugary drinks tend to attract insects and honey bees in general. The device should ensure that honeybees don’t enter it through the dispensing nozzles.
THE PROCESS
Design Progression
We moved through a rigorous, iterative development process:
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- Ideation & Conceptualization: Our industrial design team explored numerous form factors packaging a mix of powdered drinks along with soft pack non carbonated beverages. We came up with an iconic design that sported maximum brand area, a clean, easy to use interface and a CMF that created a premium look and feel.
- Material Selection: Every single material that we selected had to be food grade and conforming to Pepsico’s strict international standards. This covered plastic as well as metal parts that made up the machine.
- Mechanical & Electrical Integration: We designed the mechanical superstructure for easy access for maintenance. Additionally, we worked with Pepsico’s electrical partners to design wire harness and routing segregating DC and ACpaths and ensuring that all wiring be shielded from any accidental water leaks and spills at all times. We also engineered the device to withstand a drop of 1m in packaged condition.
THE SOLUTION
The Breakthrough: Maximum Drinks, Minimum Fuss
The result is the Pepsico beverage dispenser, a product that set the standards for non carbonated beverage dispensing.. Its most defining features are:
Front is Everything
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The entire device can be accessed for refills or servicing by opening the front door. Our design created a powerful dynamic look to the front fascia through intelligent sculpting of surfaces, the first ever attempt in this category of products.Â
Serving Large or Small
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While tea may be consumed in small cups, juices certainly are not. We created a pedestal that the operator could deploy to serve various sizes of drinks with minimum spillage. The pedestal latches into the drain slots providing stable support during dispensing. Moreover, its own drain slits allow for effective drainage while reducing weight and bringing down part cost.
Easy to Use
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The large iconography and uncluttered interface allow the operator to serve 11 drinks at the touch of a button. The backlit membrane keypad not only makes it easy to use during evening hours, but also reassures the operator that the correct drink has been dispensed.
Built for Retail
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The dispenser sports a large branding area, perhaps the largest in its category. The branding graphics are backlit and serve as a a beacon attracting wear customers on their way back to either a hot welcoming drink or a refreshing juice.
THE RESULT
A new benchmark in Non Carbonated Beverage Dispensing.
- The Pepsico Beverage dispenser has created a category of one by being the only product to deliver a mix of 11 hot and cold beverages.Â
- An intelligent device, it tracks the drinks being dispensed optimising the delivery and storage of refills for the operator.Â
- The product increased Pepsico International’s confidence in their local GVIC arm being featured in their annual showcase at Dubai, UAE.Â
- Designed for consumers, yet built for demanding environments, the dispenser is versatile enough to be deployed in areas ranging from single screen cinema halls to railway stations.