Newbie - Gap in the market? Healthy vending

[paul@optimalvend]

Hi Everybody,

I would just like to introduce myself as I see there are an awful lot of knowledgeable people on here which is great news!

I am 35 working full time in a job earning circa £27k but do not feel it will ever get me to financial freedom that I seek.

I stumbled across the idea of vending machines, specifically healthy ones, whilst undertaking my own body transformation (link to story - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/artic ... WEEKS.html) and struggling to ever be able to eat on the go. Almost all vending machines I encountered were stocked with the usual cokes and chocolate bars so I had to order online and carry them about with me. My aim is to site as many as possible of my own branded (TBC) machines selling primarily healthy produce. A mix of protein bars eg quest bars, gluten free snacks, vegan options, greens drinks etc..

I think there is a huge gap in the market for this, especially given the govt and celebrity push to tax sugar and move away from it.

What I am after is some advice on a. what sort of machines are best value for money (i.e is ebay ever any good?), what sort of routes to market to people use to get into sites? Do exclusivity agreements exist? i.e could I offer 1/2/5 year contracts to a business to secure my machines in their premises?

I am at the point where I am ready to go, have various key suppliers on board with some great wholesale prices but have as good as no machines or sites. I bought my first machine last week, which was already sited but selling choc/cokes based in a roofing trade centre (first weeks takings somewhat disheartening though....) and am about to buy one for my work (which will selling a mix of healthy and standard goods)

Where do I go from there!

Really appreciate any feedback

Paul

[Style]

Sorry but IMO healthy vending is a no no. People often ask for healthier stock in their machines but rarely eat it. There are two vending towers next to each other at Lea Valley sports stadium, ive been there twice, both times the one full of dried fruit, nuts raisins etc was full the one with sweets was empty.
Good luck though.

Andy

[Coin Operated Group]

HI Paul,

Reason there is a gap is there is no market. That's from experience!!! I know a few healthy vending companies that have gone bump.

We often get asked to put a % of healthy food in our vending machines, and every time it just sits there, nobody buys it.

Maybe if you could get into gyms and do it, but the gyms usually sell themselves.

[Coin Operated Group]

Best machines to buy are focus 32/40s , azkoyen palmas, n&w are solid reliable machines and hold their value really well, especially the smaller machines (snakkys)

Avoid westomatics, anything Chinese and any machine over 10 years old (there's a lot about!!!)

[Cannyvending]

I think it would work - gyms, health clubs, leisure centres and places like that would be ideal for these. I think roofers are probably after high calorie food as they are lifting tiles and stuff all day.

[Siting Services]

Hello Paul

Welcome to the Forum. Many of us have been around for years in the industry and we have all gone through the same line of thought as you are, and many others as well.

Like Matt, I have also know of a number of 'Healthy Eating' vending models that have been launched into the marketplace and as yet I am not aware of any succeeding. We used to run a franchise model and due to our belief and after extensive market research, we launched a healthy eating range. It flopped! The products were top quality and they just did not sell.

There is a lot of hype in the media about obesity, sugar, fat etc. We all know that we should limit our intake and opt for a healthy option. In reality, our experience has showed the market is not ready for it and are not wanting to/able to change their eating habits.

I am sure in the right location that a healthy eating vendor will work if there are no other opportunities to buy snacks, but feel the locations are very few. Those places where health, body building etc is taken seriously, you will find that the gym or health club are already geared up to take advantage by supplying their own to their customers.

Kind regards,

Barbara

PS forgot to mention. When we done our marketing to ask our customers if they would like to be offered healthy options we had a unanimous YES. When we gave out free samples of our healthy option snacks they LOVED THEM. The reality, hunger strikes, the munchies strike and what do you choose ...... definitely NOT the dried fruit, nut and berries.

[paul@optimalvend]

Thanks for all the feedback.

Not for one minute going to disagree with any of you as there is a reason you are all in business , successfully I might add and I am not :) but I would say this much. The american market for them is pretty big by all accounts, as is Scandinavia and Australia where there is a strong presence in various sectors, healthy i.e gyms but more so business, public and private sector, schools, colleges, universities and less so general public high footfall areas.

Maybe it is a non-starter but as in so much in life if you don't try you won't find out so hey ho I might as well give it a go!

Incidentally the machine I bought the other day is the same as this one: a cascade 16/8 which I paid £500 for, with coin mech and was serviced by sell-a-vend in August. Good or bad deal? The guy I bought it off has 6 more sited ones to sell so I might take them off his hands and try to convert the products to 50/50 healthy/non-healthy and see how it goes.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290752581713?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Thanks everyone

[Siting Services]

Do it Paul, you have nothing to lose and you can give us all feedback, good and bad.

Sorry, can't comment on the vendor you have bought as I have no experience of them.

I do believe healthy option vending will work, it is a matter of when the public are willing to make changes and we could well see snacking habits change with the next generation. Just look at smoking.

Barbara

[Coin Operated Group]

Agreed , good luck give it a go, nothing ventured etc etc

Cascade is a decent machine , same as a focus but with can module .

If you need any help with breakdowns etc let me know , i know pretty much everything about those machines (not blowing my own trumpet!!)

[paul@optimalvend]

Awesome! - Cheers mate

Newbie q1 - how do I access the coin mech lol - I opened the machine up and it has hardly any change in, all the coins are below the blue lines. is it option D?

Will any sales keep filling the change until it is back to min levels if I don't put some in? At the moment it doesn't seem to accept pound coins and you need exact change?