Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: The end of Pepsi premix (around here)

This is topic The end of Pepsi premix (around here) in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=003030

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 03-18-2017, 03:23 PM:

It's my understanding that Saskatchewan is one of the last places left where Pepsi sells premix tanks. I've been hearing rumours that they are going to discontinue the premix for the past few years, but now the delivery driver who was just here told me that all of the drivers have just received a letter saying that the premix is going away in two months. I still haven't been told anything official directly by anyone, but I guess if the drivers have been told that's a pretty good indicator.

So.. I will have to switch to selling drinks in some other format. Years ago one of the Pepsi service techs told me that postmix wouldn't work too well for me here because the machine sits for 23.5 hours every day so it would be constantly plugged up. Which leaves me with bottles or cans.

The advantage of a bottle or can would be speed, since it's always the pouring of the drinks that holds up the concession line. I sell iced tea in bottles and bottled water now, so when someone orders that *bang* here you go, next customer. Pouring drinks takes a while.

The downside will be the cost. There's only so much that I can jack up the price of drinks before I feel like I'm ripping people off.

I'll see what the Pepsi salesman says when he comes around. I assume that I'll see him at some point to discuss this. The last time he was here was about four or five years ago. I rarely see any of those guys. There's generally little reason to come here, I suppose. I always order the same stuff in roughly the same quantities anyway.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 03-18-2017, 03:59 PM:

quote: Frank Cox
I'll see what the Pepsi salesman says when he comes around. I assume that I'll see him at some point to discuss this. The last time he was here was about four or five years ago. I rarely see any of those guys. There's generally little reason to come here, I suppose. I always order the same stuff in roughly the same quantities anyway.

What? No phone calls? Nothing? You have to hear about the product you use being discontinued through the route drivers?

This sounds like a company that really wants your business! (Sarcasm)

I would look around to see what other companies have to offer. I would get a written quote for their products and services. Then I would call the regular salesman have that quote visible on my desk when he got there.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 03-18-2017, 04:14 PM:

I phone in my orders as needed and they get delivered. If the machine quits I phone the service line and one of the techs shows up and fixes it. What else would you need?

I told my story here before about when I was first setting up my theatre. I sent a letter to Pepsi and to Coke saying that I'm setting up this theatre, come and talk to me. The Pepsi guy was ringing my doorbell two days after I sent the letter. The Coke salesman showed up five years(!) later.

Posted by Donald Brown (Member # 5427) on 03-18-2017, 04:22 PM:

Over twenty years ago, Pepsi refused to provide a post-mix machine for a drive-in theatre that I was operating because they were not optimistic regarding sales volume; the distributor did, however, provided a pre-mix dispenser! The return on Pepsi's pre-mix product was unattractive, so eventually I acquired a post-mix dispenser for the location.
As a seasonal, weekends only operation, the theatre never had any difficulty from leaving the post-mix machine idle during down time.
The return on post-mix product is much more attractive than from either pre-mix or bottles and cans!
As regional distributors have moved toward volume sales, those that I have purchased from have long since departed from offering pre-mix product. I didn't know that it was still available!

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 03-18-2017, 04:27 PM:

Yes, the Big Green Screen used to do it that way, too.
Make a phone call then stuff shows up on the following Wednesday.

It's sounds really odd that it took years for a salesman to show up, even if you don't have a high sales volume. Something's got to be wrong, there. It just doesn't sound right.

I wonder what would happen if you called them up and told them you were thinking of switching.

Posted by Donald Brown (Member # 5427) on 03-18-2017, 05:26 PM:

When I acquired the Skowhegan Drive-In Theatre in Skowhegan, Maine in 2012, I had the privilege of working with an old time beverage distributor, Coca Cola of Farmington. I was initially unaware, until the former owner of the theatre informed me, but the Coca Cola route driver for the local area was also the owner of the company! Al Trask went out of his way to make certain that anything that was needed was available!
When Coca Cola Refreshments acquired the regional distribution territory several years later, change was noticed in all aspects of the operation, and customers were introduced to volume pricing. The price increases were so substantial for low volume accounts that it is now more cost effective to buy Coca Cola products from other vendors than directly from Coke!

Posted by Dave Bird (Member # 490) on 03-18-2017, 07:34 PM:

Zero issues at our drive-in near Ottawa Frank which operates 3 nights in spring, 7 nights summer and 2 nights fall essentially sitting for a full day every day if not days at a time. We're Pepsi as well.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 03-18-2017, 09:10 PM:

quote: Frank Cox
Years ago one of the Pepsi service techs told me that postmix wouldn't work too well for me here because the machine sits for 23.5 hours every day so it would be constantly plugged up.

Frank: That's complete nonsense. We have that exact situation here (machine sits from about 7:50 each night until about 7:00 the next night) and we've never had one problem with it. When we redid our sound system a few years ago, the machine only poured maybe one or two drinks a day for 6 days and no problem then, either.

You'll probably like postmix better -- for one thing, you won't have to change tanks near as often, since one box of syrup makes you 6 gallons of soda. You would have to figure a water line to the machine but you probably already have water in your concession stand, or close to it.

Bottles and cans: Forget it...they are noisy, take up much more space (for storage AND display), can be thrown, you would have to figure out some way to keep them cold (because you can't pour a warm Pepsi into a cup of ice, it ruins it), you'll have more trash, and you won't make as much money on them.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 03-18-2017, 10:32 PM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
since one box of syrup makes you 6 gallons of soda.

That's an awful lot of syrup in the mix, or you are using tiny BIBs. A standard size BIB will make around 30 gallons of soda.

(I was so excited when I read "the end of Pepsi", but then the title continued on.... [Frown]

)

Posted by Buck Wilson (Member # 5885) on 03-18-2017, 11:53 PM:

Yeah I've not heard of nor experienced clogged lines due to lack of heavy use either. I worked at a sub-run that only used 1 or 2 registers of the 4 available, and even despite the end two effectively never being used, they still worked fine.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 03-19-2017, 12:23 AM:

Oops that was my mistake, I meant one GALLON of syrup, not one box.

Posted by Dave Bird (Member # 490) on 03-19-2017, 09:43 AM:

In our region anyway, Pepsi has gone to the small 12L (3 gallon) BIB's for everything except Pepsi & Diet, which are still 20L (5G). I'm with Brad on preference to Coke, however their service is crap here, and believe it or not Pepsi historically outsells Coke in our area for some reason. They also distribute Dr. Pepper here.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 03-19-2017, 01:12 PM:

We get Diet Pepsi, Lemonade and Fruit Punch in the 3-gallon BIBs - everything else in 5gal. Around here, for some odd reason, you can get Dr. Pepper from both Pepsi and Coke distributors.

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 04-09-2017, 04:53 PM:

Dr Pepper isn't owned by Coca Cola or Pepsico, that's why you can get it from both Coca Cola and Pepsico distributors in some markets.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 05-12-2017, 10:16 PM:

So far I actually like this. I am paying Pepsi about the same amount per ounce for the drinks and it speeds up my concession service by an order of magnitude. There's a lot less that gets spilled on the floor, too.

I'm selling the bottles for $3.50 and to accommodate people with little kids I'm selling (empty) cups with straws and lids for 50 cents. So parents can buy one bottle and split it between two kids that way if they want to.

The customers seem to be pretty happy with this setup, too.

Now the slowest concession thing is dishing out the popcorn, and that doesn't take very long. Speeding up the line is worth it all by itself, really.

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 05-17-2017, 03:26 PM:

I see a few single screen independents who sell bottles, haven't seen any issues with them thrown at the screen. Lots of trash though, the bottles won't compact like cups can.
Every drive-in I know only sells bottles. Usually because their well water is "not potable" although probably drinkable: the required filters and regular government testing make it too expensive to have it certified safe.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 05-17-2017, 03:50 PM:

I've been selling bottled water and bottled iced tea here for years. Had a much smaller fridge for it here at that time, which was replaced with the big one in the picture.

Disposal of the bottles here isn't really a problem since we have a deposit/return system in Saskatchewan. I store the empty bottles until I have a large garbage bag full and then take them to the recycling depot in town where they count them and pay out a refund of ten cents each.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-17-2017, 04:54 PM:

Do you still offer a cup/ice/straw/lid for a person who wants to drink a soda that way? A bottled soda would get warm if it sits for a while during a movie. I personally much prefer drinking thru a straw, plus it's better for the teeth. [Big Grin]

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 05-17-2017, 05:09 PM:

I've never had ice here, and I still don't.

I'll give anyone a straw upon request, and I sell a cup with a lid for 50 cents. That way people with little kids can split a bottle between them and the total cost (bottle plus cup and lid) is the same as it was to purchase two "small drinks" when I still had the premix machine. (Bottle $3.50. Cup 50 cents. "Small drink" was $2.00.)

I do occasional private special shows for schools and such, and for them I can still pour the drinks out of the bottles and into cups and have everything ready when they arrive just like I did before. And at the same cost. I haven't had a special show like that since I got the new setup, but I'll offer that the next time someone phones for one.

The service speed is the best part of this. I used to get lines and probably lost sales because people didn't want to wait. Now the most people I've had waiting at one time since I got this setup is three. That will probably increase as I'm just now getting into some more popular movies, but still -- the waiting time is just as minimal as it can possibly be now.

I'm still learning how much stock of each kind I should be ordering since I never bought it this way before. So far I've learned that I need to order more Diet Pepsi than 7-Up; with the premix I usually ordered about 3 7-Ups to every every two Diet Pepsi and that for some reason has reversed. Maybe more Diet Pepsi buyers are actually purchasing something now rather than just walking by and getting nothing.