Guide to Supplies for Food and Beverage Vending Machines

Choose from a wide variety of options for food and beverage vending machines

By Ben Hahn

1. Find a vending machine supplier with a variety of cold beverage options.
2. Offer a number of food items for snacks or meals on the job.
3. Improve workplace settings with speciality coffee vending machines.
   

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Quench thirst in your office with beverage vending machine supplies

Nothing hits the spot on a work break like a cool, refreshing beverage. Vending machine companies can stock your workplace with soft drinks, water, juice, or other cold beverages.

I recommend: Friendly Vending offers beverage vending services with a wide number of choices for drink type and size. American Vending sells beverage vending machines that can display and hold up to 48 different drink varieties. They offer a number of beverage vending supplies, including soft drinks, water, and coffee.

Choose from a variety of food vending supplies

A food vending machine can carry anything from candy to potato chips. When most people think of vending machine food, they probably imagine unhealthy snacks, but there are a number of vending machine suppliers offering healthy alternatives to help you promote well-being in your office.

I recommend: Action Vending sells multiple vending machine models and also services machines with a variety of food options ranging from snacks and candy to fresh or frozen foods. For a healthy vending machine alternative, turn to Healthy Snack Store. They offer a wide variety of all natural and organic food items, and also offer wholesale purchases.

Supply a coffee vending machine to boost employee energy and morale

Coffee has long been an important motivating tool in workplaces around the world. Installing a gourmet coffee vending machine in a workplace gives employees a way to get a great-tasting caffeine fix without stepping out to the coffee shop down the street.

I recommend: Cuda Coffee Vending sells a number of coffee and espresso vending machines and supplies, which come from a number of quality coffee producers. Your Choice Refreshment Services sells multiple coffee vending machine models and also provides all kind of supplies like gourmet and decaf coffees and creamers and sweeteners.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  In addition to the type of item offered in beverage and food vending machines, another important thing to consider is location. Be sure that automatic vending machines are situated in high-traffic areas where employees or customers can easily access them.

Guide to Food and Beverage Vending Machines

A place to grab a quick drink or treat will be appreciated by hungry workers

By Meagan Francis

1. A full-service vendor,
2. Working cooperatively with a vendor,
3. Doing it themselves.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Choose a vending service to take care of the details

A full-service company will provide the machine, handle repairs and re-stocking, and provide a customer service number for lost money and other problems. The vendor will set the prices and, in some cases, pay you a commission on the sales. However, many full-service vendors won't put a machine in small offices, and you may not earn much money in commissions.

I recommend: US Vending offers nationwide full vending service for Coke products and snacks, while Vending Solutions offers full service on Coke and Pepsi products, snacks, and more to workplaces with more than 40 employees.

Operate a machine in cooperation with a vendor

If you pick one major company - like Coke or Pepsi - to work with, you can contact them to see about leasing or renting a machine directly from the vendor. Your product choices will be limited and you'll do most of the maintenance and re-stocking work, but you'll get to set your own prices and keep more of the profits.

I recommend: Visit I Want To Serve Pepsi or Hershey's Vending for information about vending products from these major companies.

Do it yourself.

Purchasing a new or used machine outright offers you freedom in both pricing and product selection. You'll get to keep all the profits, but you'll also have to deal with re-stocking and maintenance yourself.

I recommend: Usedvending.com sells new and used vending machines of all types.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Ask employees what kind of snacks and drinks they'd like to see in the vending machine and keep that in mind when choosing a service.
• •  Consider offering healthy fare instead of just soda, chips and candy. Workers will appreciate more nutritious fare, and it can help boost productivity as well.
• •  Machines that use energy efficiently can save your organization a significant amount of money over their lifetime.

Guide to Food and Beverage Vending Machines Industry Overview

Explore the variety of options offered by vending machine providers

By Ben Hahn

1. The more local a vending machine supplier is, the more likely service and quality of food items will be greater. Vending machine providers operate all over the country.
2. Turn to a vending machine business for help choosing the best product for your location, and the best spot to place your machine. Professionals have a better grasp of what will sell and what won't, and where vending machines should be set up.
3. A number of service options are available from most vendors. For example, you can buy or rent vending machines.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Turn to a local vending machine company for higher quality

When looking for beverage or food vending machine companies, look local. Service costs will be lower and products will be fresher.

I recommend: If you're having trouble finding local providers, VendingAssistance.com can help you find vending machine suppliers and services for whatever needs you may have. FreeVending.com is another online service that can help put you in touch with vending machine suppliers anywhere in the country.

Get help finding the best beverage or food vending machines for your location

A vending machine company can help you understand what product is likely to be most successful with your business, and can help place the machine at your site to encourage greater use.

I recommend: 101Vending can help businesses or vending machine entrepreneurs buy and place their machines. Universal Vending Consultants, based in Houston, Texas, has provided sound advice on vending machines to a variety of businesses and investors.

Choose the right vending machine service for your business

Whether you're looking for a frozen treat vending machine or coffee vending machine, you can find a vending machine company willing to rent or sell their product. Choose the option that best fits your current needs. You may see larger profits in the long run with your own vending machine, but immediate expenses will be greater.

I recommend: The Hanna Group, in addition to selling and renting a variety of vending machines, provides a great food and beverage industry overview on their website. Vencoa provides a number of vending machine sales and investment options, including opportunities for individuals to place multiple vending machines at their place of employment.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Outdoor vending machines are more accessible than machines placed indoors, but are more likely to incur damage due to the elements or vandalism.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Cold food vendor

Employees and customers using business lunch and break rooms will benefit from cold food vendor vending machines that can dispense cold and frozen foods like sandwiches, fresh fruit and milk.

I recommend: Learn more about features, capacities and benefits of cold food vendor-type vending machines through Vencoa Vending Machines.

Refrigerated combo

Save floor space by offering food and beverages in the same vending machine with a refrigerated combo unit. Combo vending machines are often equipped with adjustable trays to change your offerings periodically.

I recommend: Check out a selection of refrigerated combo vending machines available through Vending Machines Unlimited.

Mechanical snack machines

Instead of electrical vending machines that become inoperable in the event of a coin slot jam or power outage, mechanical vending machines feature individual coin slots for each selection and don't require electricity. Also look for units with pest control doors to keep the machine sanitary.

I recommend: See a selection of mechanical vending machines with different capacities and features through 4Mega-Vending.

Coin acceptors and dollar bill validators

Choosing the right coin acceptors or dollar bill validators for your bank of vending machines will help prevent fraud by ensuring honest purchases. New units can replace existing payment mechanisms if you've been unhappy with their performance and security level.

I recommend: Find an assortment of coin acceptor and dollar bill validator units that can be retrofitted to existing vending machines at Vending World.

Energy Star

Keep food and beverage vending machines running with less electricity by ordering equipment that qualifies for the Energy Star rating. These vending machines provide the same performance level but use less electricity by switching to low lighting or refrigeration when not in use.

I recommend: Get additional information and learn the benefits of Energy Star rated vending machines through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website.

ePort

An ePort unit allows a vending machine to accept credit and debit cards as payment. These units also allow you to retrieve sales figures remotely from your vending machines for added convenience.

I recommend: Learn more about how the ePort payment service works with your vending machines from USA Tech.