Fizzing at the point of dispense
It’s perhaps not surprising that the world’s beverage manufacturers are looking for new ways to satisfy their customers. One emerging trend is a focus on finding alternative points of consumption, close to the point of use, where personalised drinks are dispensed, mixed and served on demand. Not only does this approach open up the possibility of additional revenue streams but it also plays to the regulatory and consumer pressures forcing a shift to more sustainable supply chains using less plastic and glass.
Local delivery, mixing and dispensing of drinks close to the point of consumption reveals a series of logistical and technical challenges which are not present in more traditional mass volume manufacturing and distribution. One such technical challenge is how to carbonate drinks just before they are dispensed.
In this article, two effervescent experts from technology consultancy, Sagentia, explore the technical challenges of in-line carbonation and the on-demand mixing and dispensing of fizzy drinks.
The ‘fizzics’ of soda
Making a liquid fizzy is mainly a time challenge. Part fill a closed cylinder with water and the rest with carbon dioxide and the water will eventually carbonate. But it will take a weekend. In the new scenario of just-in-time manufacture, consumers are unlikely to tolerate a wait time of much more than a minute. The big challenge is, therefore, creating the optimum interface to allow carbonation to happen in a timely way.
The full article first appeared in Food and Drink Technology here.
