In some global vending news, a four-year-old New Zealand boy got his arm caught in the door of a Coca-Cola vending machine. While the article did not mention why the boy was trying to reach inside (his arm was up to his elbow inside), it’s probably safe to assume he was trying to help himself to a free soda. A Coca-Cola representative did bring a key but the boy’s arm was wedged so badly that the firemen had to smash the glass on the front of the machine to free him.

The glass front machines are very expensive so I bet the Coke rep wasn’t happy about that! The article was originally posted by nzhearald.

Coca-Cola has come up with a new “viral” video that shows the Coke machine vending out items such as a pizza, balloon animal, giant sub sandwich, flowers and more. The machine is called Coke’s “Happiness Machine” and it was placed on a college campus.

Obviously there is a person inside of the machine handing this stuff out. It was created by Definition6 and is very entertaining to watch.

Some of the video is painful to watch from a vending service provider standpoint since the machine starts to vend out a bunch of sodas with a single vend. This is a very real problem when a machine has a mechanical issue and is known in the industry as “jackpotting.” Jackpotting can lead to an unhappy customer because the soda machine may become jammed and emptied of sodas very quickly!

Today Costco announced that it will no longer stock Coca-Cola products in its stores.  Costco does not plan to remove existing Coke products from their stores but is not placing any more orders unless an ongoing price dispute is resolved.

While this may not be a big deal for the average consumer, vending machine operators may be adversely affected by the move.  Many business owners supply their vending machines with products from warehouse retailers such as Sam’s Club and Costco.  However, this does not mean that vending companies will no longer be able to stock Coke sodas.  The sodas are available in bulk from Coca-Cola and other retailers as well.

Costco posted notices in stores and on its website  saying, “Costco is committed to carrying name brand merchandise at the best possible prices. At this time, Coca-Cola has not provided Costco with competitive pricing so that we may pass along the value our members deserve.”

It is not immediately clear which company will blink first in this latest standoff but it should be resolved fairly quickly.

Coca-Cola announced that it is coming out with a new soda dispenser called the “Coca-Cola Freestyle.”

Most soda fountain machines now have separate nozzles for each flavor and generally have a maximum of about 6-8 choices. With this new equipment, Coca-Cola can now offer virtually limitless flavor options (100+) in a single machine without the need for separate nozzles and dispensers for every flavor.

The drink machines use a technology called “PurePour” which is very advanced. According to Fast Company, “The “PurePour” technology was originally developed to measure extremely precise amounts of dialysis and cancer drugs. Beyond that, RFID scanners are used to match cartridges to dispensers, and the onboard computer confirms everything is in place. Existing soda fountains use five-gallon concentrate bags and lots of backroom labor. Now all that is required is a highly concentrated 46-ounce cartridge inside a self-contained machine.

The sleek design of the machine is thanks to Pininfarina Extra. While Pininfarina may not be a household name, they are best known for designing cars such as Ferrari 599 GTB and various Maseratis.

Also the machine is connected to Coke’s headquarters, which allows it to send usage data back with information about the top selling products and stock levels. Furthermore, Coke can control the machine remotely to add or remove products that are to be dispensed.

The Freestyle machines are said to be undergoing testing in about 60 locations in Orange County, California and Atlanta with a wider rollout expected in 2010.

We often receive inquiries from organizations looking to switch vending machine companies because their current supplier had raised the pricing on their Pepsi or Coke machine. The organization feels that the pricing is not fair and wants to switch vending companies. In almost every case we are not able to help the organization out because the vend rates they are requesting are too low for any vendor to make a financial return on the machine placement.

Many people who are not familiar with the industry assume that the vending business is very profitable. The most common example calculation mistake for people is that the vending company purchases a case of Coke for $.25 and sells it for $.75, thus receiving $.50 of profit. While it’s true that the vendor will make $.50 with these numbers, the net income is much lower once the costs are taken out.

A decent quality standalone soda or pop machine runs about $3,000. Assuming the previous example of a vendor purchasing soda for $.25 each and selling it for $.75 in the Coke machine, the vendor would have to sell over 16 sodas every day for a year to just break even on the vending machine itself. This doesn’t include costs such as insurance, delivery vehicles, gas, paying the person to stock the machine etc.

That being said, there are vendors out there who have very low vend rates compared to the competition. Extremely low vend rates are usually obtained the following ways:

· The vending company isn’t reporting all of their income to the IRS.
· The vendor doesn’t carry insurance protecting his or her clients should the machine injure someone or cause damage such as an electrical fire.
· There is not a customer service center to call if there’s a problem.
· The vending provider uses old, outdated equipment.
· The vendor uses low quality generic products instead of Coke or Pepsi.
· There are illegal immigrants servicing the equipment, which that can be a legal issue for the organization that hired the vending company.
· The vendor will place the machine with the low price for a few months to get the machines in the door and then raise the price later.

In most cases organizations are better off looking for a company that has good service rather than simply going with the lowest bidder. Most people prefer a Coke vending machine that is always stocked with products and actually works rather than having an old vending machine with a low vend rate that steals money and is always out of product.

Like the old adage says, “You get what you pay for.”

The Florida Lottery announced that they are rolling out 1,000 vending machines selling lottery tickets to their “high-volume retail locations.”  Some of the stores on the list include Circle K as well as 7-Eleven and Publix locations.

Lotterypost.com reports that the machines are smaller than a typical soda vending machine and only accept cash.  Credit cards and coins will not be accepted.  Also, the vending machines will have up to 24 games available and accept $1 – $30 dollars. (more…)

How can you buy a Coke out of the Coke machine if you don’t have a credit card, debit card, cash or identification to get money from a bank?  Easy.  Simply walk up to the machine and swipe your finger!

As reported by CrunchGear, Hitachi recently debuted a new type of soda vending machine that allows the customer to use a pad that will read your fingerprint.  If you have signed up and are in the database then the money is automatically selected from your credit card.  You do not have to have the card on you.

So when is this piece of vending equipment making its way to your nearest hotel or shopping mall?  Don’t hold your breath; Hitachi isn’t even sure it will market the machines.  In the meantime they will be testing out the vending machines on their own employees in some of their offices.

Vending Solutions is pleased to announce the promotion of Ashley Shelly to the position of Regional Vending Manager, S. East Region. Ashley brings extensive customer service and account management experience, as well as a thorough understanding of customer needs through her previous position in business-to-business sales at Starbucks Coffee Company.

Dave Lieske, Director of Operations, said, “Since joining the company Ashley has shown herself to be a strong contributor who constantly looks for areas to improve process and deliver high quality customer service.”

In her new position as a Regional Vending Manager, Ms Shelly will manage ongoing client relationships within the S. Eastern portion of the United States extending from Missouri to Florida. Furthermore, Ms Shelly will be working with Vending Solutions’ national network of vending machine route operators to ensure quality vending machine placements and 5 Star Service for our ever-expanding client base.

When asked about her new position in the company Ms Shelly replied,
“I am very excited about my new role as Regional Vending Manger. The vending industry is rich with opportunity and very intricate in nature. The unique challenges of this role keep me on my toes and inspire creativity – very refreshing!”

Vending Solutions is a National Vending Management company providing all types of vending services to companies across the United States and Canada. Vending Solutions specializes in Coke and Pepsi machines as well as snack, amusement, ATM and digital jukeboxes.

If you currently have office coffee services or are thinking about obtaining office coffee services, there are a few things to consider.

Is your “free” office coffee machine really free? Many coffee companies will provide offices with a “free” office coffee machine in exchange for agreeing to use their coffee service for a certain period of time. Also, many full service coffee companies have minimum order requirements that force companies to pay a monthly fee to rent the coffee machine if they don’t order the minimum amount of coffee during a given time period.

Coke, Pepsi and snack vending machines are generally free to the company because the employees buy the products from the machine. Conversely, many companies provide coffee free of charge to employees. Providing coffee as a free benefit to employees can be very expensive, therefore, many companies are looking at ways to provide the service at a reduced cost.

Using an online coffee service is often the perfect solution for businesses looking to reduce the cost of their current coffee service. The downside to an online program is that the company is responsible for purchasing the coffee equipment. However, once the coffee equipment is purchased, the company has the freedom of shopping for the best price at anytime since there are absolutely no contracts or minimum ordering requirements of any kind.

Coffee machines start at around $550 and professional installation is readily available. While a few hundred dollars may sound like a lot to spend for a coffee machine, the coffee products available online average about 30% cheaper than most “full service” companies charge.

For example, Starbucks Breakfast Blend 18ct 2.5oz box is currently $35.99 online, assuming this is about 30% less than a full service company, a company would save over $550 after only 37 boxes of coffee ordered. The savings would pay for the cost of the brewing equipment! Furthermore, shipping is free on all orders over $70.

What about all the extra work involved forgoing the full service route? If a company is already using a brewing system then there is probably someone on staff who is already responsible for pouring in the grinds and turning on the machine everyday. Most companies’ use of coffee tends to be pretty consistent year after year so the extra work involved would amount to someone ordering coffee every couple weeks and putting the supplies away, just like any other office supply.

If you’d like to find out more about online office coffee feel free to visit our website www.VendingSolutions.com, call us at 1-800-655-7564 or fill out the form.

Since we have been in the vending business since 1997, we tend to think we’ve seen just about everything vended using coin operated vending machines. Over the past decade creative folks have come up with vending machines that go far beyond the normal snack, Pepsi and Coke machines.

There have been dog wash vending machines for a few years now. Most use the same principals of a self-service car wash. The dog is placed in a bin and you wash and rinse your pooch by hand using a wand or similar method.

However, the Dog-o-Matic (yes that’s the real name) more closely resembles a front-loading washing machine. The dog is placed inside of the vending machine, soaped, rinsed and dried all for $20-$48! No word on what PETA or the Humane Society have to say yet but the dog in the picture sure doesn’t look happy.

This latest creation comes from Frenchmen, Romain Jarry who has had success with the vending machines in France and it now eying on bring the machines to Britain.

This vending machine doesn’t seem like a bad idea for smaller dogs (as long as the dog isn’t terrified) however, it’s hard to imagine muscling an unwilling 75 pound Great Dane into the machine!