Once a CEO of Coca-Cola wondered, only half-jokingly, if homes could be hooked up with a faucet that dispenses Coke, right next to the one with water.
Let’s forget for a moment what that would do to national rates of obesity, diabetes and tooth decay, and just admire the efficiency of that idea. Talk about getting your product to the consumer as easily as possible.
For some reason, that long-forgotten whimsical proposal surfaced in my mind when I came across a release for “Mac on Tap,” from Nestlé’s Stouffer’s brand. This foodservice device dispenses hot macaroni and cheese with one pull of a handle (shaped like a giant macaroni, of course). The idea is that not only can customers serve themselves; they can deposit mac and cheese on top of hot dogs, pizza or wherever their hearts desire.
The idea of a hot entrée being dispensed for self-serve is intriguing to me, perhaps because I’m not quite old enough to remember Automats. Who knows? Maybe one day we’ll see faucets for mac and cheese, stew and all kinds of semi-liquid hot foods, right next to the one for Coke.
