So I've been thinking about the economics of complimentary water lately. You know how it is, you go to a restaurant and they give you water for free while you wait for your order because, well, most people order a drink anyway and it compels you to stay at the table while at the same time you don't feel neglected.
Complimentary bread as an appetizer serves the same purpose, but not every restaurant gives you bread. Every restaurant brings you water. Hence, free water is the norm for dining establishments.
So translate this to fast food. Every fast food restaurant out there lets you get free water, because that's the norm. Problem is, they derive zero intrinsic value by giving water to everyone--it's fast food, it's not like you're waiting for ten minutes while it's prepared. But they can't charge for water because customers would say "What do mean I have to pay for water?--Red Lobster gives me water for free!"
To complicate this, fast food restaurants make huge margins on their soft drinks (unless you think that cup of ice and sugar-seltzer actually costs them $1.50), so they encourage diners to order soft drinks through a series of... you guessed it... incentives. Some times these are incentives to buy the soft drink--game pieces on cups, etc--but most of the time you see disincentives to order a water. Water comes in small cups (a la Taco Bell) or in ridiculously small cups (a la St. Louis Bread Company). Sometimes the water shares a spigot with some kind of fruit drink, so that when you dispense water, it always comes out vaguely pinkish.
Now, I'm a water drinker when I dine-in, but a soda drinker when I use the drive-through. This is because I drink a lot of water and I will refill my drink if I'm dining in, but you can't do this in the drive through.
And here's the kicker: I would be perfectly willing to pay for water. I wouldn't pay as much, but I would pay $.50 for a cup of ice water, if I could get it in a regular sized cup. And I bet I'm not the only one. And I bet that there wouldn't be all that many converts from soda if you implemented this kind of scheme. In short, I can't see Pepsi (which, because irony is fun, owns Taco Bell) losing money by charging a nominal fee for water and removing the disincentives. But you can't do this.
Free water is the norm.
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2 comments:
Many places sell bottled water now (though I think they charge the $1.50 or whatever a soda costs to get the bottled water).
I saw a documentary on potable water during the KC film fest last year. It is currently among the most rapidly vanishing natural resources on the planet. Free water may not be the norm in a decade or so. *Available* water may not be the norm in a decade or so.
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