CHICAGO -- Fully automated convenience stores, fresh-cooked vending machine hot dogs, miniature clear-packed lunches and vending machines that can't possibly steal coins are among the innovations at a vending trade show this week at McCormick Place, according to Medill Reports.
More than 300 exhibitors showcased the latest technology and trends in vending at the National Automatic Merchandising Association Expo last week in Chicago, attended by more than 5,000 vending professionals from around the world.
Rows of exhibitors addressed [image-nocss] all aspects of vending, from internal coin-sorters, power lifts and change machines to the bags, boxes and packages of food that stock a machine's coils. Shiny machines cook fresh hot dogs and deliver soda bottles without shakeup fizz. Hundreds of booths tout soft drinks, chips, yogurt, milk bottles, candy bars and almost any foodstuff of the right dimensions.
Blurring the line between vending and retail, Freedom Shopping set up an automated, unattended c-store like three it has already built near Detroit, said the report. A customer enters the store and picks up an item--chips, pantyhose and takes it to a self-service kiosk. He or she pays with cash, credit card or pre-verified debit thumbprint. If the customer tries to leave without paying, a siren sounds and two cameras snap his or her mug shot.
Tony Steinmann of Y Not Foods Inc. debuted a new product, Lunchin' Litesmall shelf-stable lunches packed in clear boxes. The meal combos, complete with Oreos for dessert, are for airlines, schools, prisons and the military, Steinmann told the news website. And the Green Bay, Wis.-based company plans to customize the product for different customers. The package measures only a few inches wide and contains crackers or chips with Wisconsin cheese.
Chicago food giant Kraft offered samples of several new or upcoming vending machine offerings at the expo, the report said. Fast Franks, dog-and-bun combos already available on grocery store shelves, will appear in vending machines soon. The bun starts undercooked, and finishes baking in a special microwave carton. Kraft also sampled cream-cheese-stuffed bagel bars, which will hit grocery stores in early March and vending machines later that month.
Trade show chairman Frank Saverino Sr. said this retail-followed-by-vending schema is common, but not always logical. A new product in a vending machine is competing with 45 other foods, max, he told Medill Reports. It's the most economical way to launch a product. With grocery stores, if you want to put something on the shelves, it costs you a fortune, and if it doesn't sell, it costs more to get it out of there.
Gardetto's snack mix, for example, started in vending, and moved tostores when customers called the plant asking where they could buy bigger bags, the report said.
And Crane National Vendors, which manufactures about 75% of the nation's vending machines,said it has solved the problem of vending machines stealing coins. New machines employ criss-crossed sensors near the bottom to detect the falling snack. If the food doesn't make it down the chute, customers can make another selection or hit a coin return button. A retrofitting kit adds the feature to old machines, as well.
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