Iron Age

By: Ipacs Tamás Date: 2023. 11. 09. 23:06

Vending machines will play a bigger role in our everyday meals in the near future. The importance of this segment is also reflected in the growing number of food and beverage vending machines at the most important food and hospitality trade fairs in wealthier countries, for instance Intergastra 2024 in Stuttgart focuses on vending.

This article is available for reading in Trade magazin 2023/11.

According to data from 2022, there are nearly 4.5 million vending machines in Europe (over 800,000 in the Italian market alone), and more than half of these dispense hot drinks. 80% of vending machines are located at workplaces. The industry directly employs over 85,000 people at 10,000 companies all around Europe. The pandemic has accelerated the development of the industry, which is boosted even more by the lack of skilled workforce – a problem that the head of the German vending association believes can be solved by automation, even at the highest level of hotel services.

Technology

At the heart of the vending machines available today we see the diversity of products and services. Mobile applications and programmable solutions help these machines to operate more efficiently, while product marketing is supported by large-screen displays and cloud solutions. As for comfortable shopping, the focus is on contactless and cashless features that make payment easier and machines more hygienic to use. What is more, research has revealed that these methods encourage shoppers to spend more. Vending machine operators can also pay more attention to sustainability aspects, e.g. smart inventory makes waste-free daily product turnover possible. Sensor-based temperature and humidity measurement helps to preserve the freshness of ingredients.

New vending machines can monitor food and beverage expiry dates, check maintenance, manage payments and display the number of pots (cups) dispensed, while inventory control is supported by weighted shelf technology. Thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) technology, coffee machines make intelligent inventory decisions, eliminating the need for on-call operators. This means expenses are reduced and waste is minimised. Vending machine operators can now introduce healthy products to meet changing customer preferences, and machines must also provide product characteristics and food intolerance information to users.

The smar fridge’s door may be opened by applicaton or by bankcard

Community meals

A new branch of unmanned catering services is the micromarket, combining the functions of vending machines and smart shops. Their number is growing day by day: micromarkets are appearing – primarily at workplaces – across the US and Europe, transforming traditional communal spaces for eating and relaxing, not only by the size of the food and drink selection and the versatility of the system, but also by using the latest technology for a simple and functional service.

A micromarket is basically an unmanned retail space where people can buy food and drink, from a large selection of fresh and healthy products, using machines that are regularly and continuously replenished. They have refrigerated modules that can store salads and sandwiches, fresh drinks, fruit, vegetables or other perishable snacks, and of course frozen delicacies. It goes without saying that there are also coffee specialities, dry goods and healthy products. Customers take the food or drink they wish to buy and pay at the self-checkout.

The number of micromarkets just in Europe nearly accounts for 6500

Micromarket kiosks offer lots of convenient payment options: credit card, cash, fingerprint scanner and others. Micromarkets are relatively cheap to set up and maintain, and also have the advantage of offering a wider choice than a traditional workplace café. A popular micromarket feature is the smart fridge, which can be opened and the product can be paid for using an app or a credit card.

Eurekantine: vending machines are also introduced in quality workplace catering

The Hungarian “micromarket”

Hungarian firm Vendo Box is building a market, both literally and figuratively: they are installing their machines on premises open 24 hours a day, where you can buy sweets, soft drinks, coffee, instant soups, health and hygiene products – 100-150 of these – and everything you can think of on the street at night, except for tobacco and spirits. At the moment they operate 19 such shops in the country, some of them in a franchise system.

100-150 products 24/7 hours

Your humble servant: the machine

In Budapest the first automatic restaurant opened in 1898, and it was followed by more in the years to come, but most of them were forced to close during the economic crisis. The industry began to boom again after the great recession. Our illustration shows the Automated Buffet, which opened in 1912 next to the former Király Theatre.

Initially its presence was primarily a sign of all-round progress, and people were attracted to the shiny “machine diners” mainly by curiosity about the new technological marvel, where for 30 fillérs they could have coffee, chocolate and tea in the morning, and various drinks and sandwiches during the day. //

Hot dumpling, cold drink

The decor of Brooklyn Dumpling Shop in New York may seem a little futuristic. Food is always hot in this fully automated dumpling paradise, which is open 24/7. Orders can be placed online via the restaurant’s touch-free POS kiosks or by phone, and when the food is ready, the customer is notified which adjustable-temperature cabinet to get it from.

Food from temperature-controlled lockers

Aluminium cans for cakes from vending machines

It isn’t surprising that the first products developed especially for vending machines appear in Asia! In Japan there is a unique packaging for top sweets: Goku is packaging its special cakes in an aluminium can similar to that of soft drinks, specifically for vending machines. The Okashi Gaku brand is now available not only in major cities across Japan, but also in vending machines in Singapore.