Consider the humble vending machines. They are virtually everywhere, and we do mean everywhere! We see them in stores, hallways, offices, subway stations, laundry mats, gas stations, and more. Not only are the vending machines convenient, but they are easy to use, can take cash or cards, and consumers do not have to interact with a cashier or sales person. Easy. Fast. Convenient. And, usually not very good eating.
Yes, the common vending machines as just that – common. They have been around so long that they no longer excite consumers. There is nothing particularly interesting, and virtually little food that is healthy for us. When was the last time you looked forward to eating a meal or snack dispensed by a vending machine?
That may be about to change with the advent of new machines that dispense fresh, healthy food in high density locations. Instead of soda, candy bars, and chips, today’s machines carry salads, yogurt parfaits, pudding, specialty coffee drinks, and much more satisfying fare. Not only are the foods better, the service is faster than stopping at a fast-food joint and waiting in long lines. And, as an added bonus, some of the machines will even recycle the packaging to reduce waste.
Here are few of the new alternatives:
- Farmer’s Fridge – 400+ machines in office buildings and food courts in six states
- Fresh Bowl – Seven locations in New York
- Chowbotics – 100 salad robots that build orders from touchscreens
- Le Bread Xpress – Five bake machines that cook croissants, pizza, and quiche
- Briggo – High-end coffee cars that make 100 custom drinks per hour
Hungry and in a rush? Let’s meet at the vending machine.
Group Activities and Discussion Questions:
- Poll students: Where are vending machines? What do they buy form vending machines? Why do they buy from vending machines?
- Divide students into groups. Have each group take an existing vending machine and work out an update for today’s consumers.
- Alternative: Show Web sites of new vending machines dispensing fresh food and have a team of students analyze each vending machine and company.
- For each company, determine the target market, where it should be located, and the messaging.
- Farmers Fridge: https://www.farmersfridge.com/
- Fresh Bowl: https://www.myfreshbowl.com/
- Chowbotics (Sally): http://www.chowbotics.com/
- Le Bread Express: https://www.lebreadxpress.com/
- Briggo coffee: https://briggo.com/
- Truebird coffee: https://www.truebird.com/
Source: Black, J. (13 February 2020). The machine that lets you skip the salad bar. Wall Street Journal.
