Due to the extremely low cost of fountain soft drinks (especially the beverage itself, not including the cost of the cup, lid and straw), often offering a profit margin of 80-82%, establishments tend to offer free refills as a sales gimmick.
When I worked at Pizza Hut (early 2000s), for shits and giggles I calculated the actual cost of a glass of Pepsi. Accounting for the syrup bag, the CO2 cylinder and water (the latter being the cheapest since it was filtered tap from the city main) it was like $0.14 a glass.
How much money would that even save?
fountain soda barely costs anything, this isn't about saving money so much as it's about extracting more out of the customer
I’m silly, of course statesians will pay extra for more colored sugar water.
About $7 over the course of an entire day of operation. That honestly might be too high, come to think of it
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_refill#:~:text=Due%20to%20the%20extremely%20low,refills%20as%20a%20sales%20gimmick.
When I worked at Pizza Hut (early 2000s), for shits and giggles I calculated the actual cost of a glass of Pepsi. Accounting for the syrup bag, the CO2 cylinder and water (the latter being the cheapest since it was filtered tap from the city main) it was like $0.14 a glass.