Suntory Builds 'Free Drinks For Two' Machine For Workplaces

A Japanese beverage maker has taken the wraps off a workplace vending machine it hopes will help restore interactions and creativity to offices and factories amid the coronavirus pandemic -- by providing free drinks when two employees scan their ID cards at the same time, Mainichi News reported.

Photo Insert: Workers scanning their IDs at the Suntory "company president's treat" vending machine

Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd., which unveiled what it has dubbed the "company president's treat" for corporate customers last Tuesday, aims to install the vending machines at 100 companies by 2022, beginning in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The cost of the free drinks will be covered by the client firms.

The idea for the special vending machine emerged after the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in those working from home, consequently reducing interactions with bosses and colleagues.

Suntory said it hopes the machines will increase opportunities for small talk when people do go to the workplace and foster new ideas, Kyodo News also reported.

The machines, which otherwise serve as normal vending machines when work IDs are not scanned, can be customized to limit the number of beverages an employee can get per day, or limit the time or day of the week when the free drink service is offered, among other modifications.

It generated positive feedback when office supply manufacturer Kokuyo Co. installed the machine for a trial at its Tokyo office in February.

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