Vending machine customers spring for fresh options

Vending machine sales are up 7 percent at the University of Buffalo, but students on the upstate New York campus aren’t buying more sugary snacks and beverages.

In response to declining soft drink sales and increasing consumer interest in healthy options, the campus brought in four new vending machines in September 2015 that feature locally sourced products and low-calorie, low-sugar or sugarless snacks and drinks.

“We’ve seen a shift in the last year and a half toward healthy eating on campus,” said Jeff Brady, executive director of UB Campus Dining and Shops. “This generation is really educated about food.” The machines will feature a rotating selection of New York-made items such as cheese sticks, yogurt, applesauce and baked goods.

Consumer shifts in food preferences and technology improvements to vending are changing the snack environment for foodservice operations. Higher-quality food items and more efficient machines are raising vending revenue.

At the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, 21 new machines with healthier choices now account for 52 percent of the total vending revenue from all 252 machines on the campus, according to the Annapolis, Md.-based company that operates the university’s vending program. Popular items include 2-ounce containers of grapes or apple slices, hummus and crackers and vegetable medleys of celery and cherry tomatoes with light ranch dressing.

The machines, which retail for $8,000 to $9,000 each, collect data and provide online reports about what’s selling and what isn’t, as well as possible maintenance issues. UV can use the reports to program maintenance checks and restocking schedules.

In addition to dollars and coins, the machines accept credit cards, debit cards, student payment cards, Apple Pay and payment apps on Android phones. Given the high cost of the machines, the University of Virginia focuses on locations with have 500 people or more, the supplier said, adding that while vending is great, it does not make sense everywhere—especially healthy vending. What is popular at the library may not be popular at locations like the maintenance shop.

UB’s machines reflect that sentiment as well. The approximate 200 traditional machines on campus still stock candy—though Brady noted freshmen were more likely to choose an organic energy bar due to their heightened concerns about healthful eating. Four sugary sodas in regular machines were switched out for plain and flavored waters, and Brady says the department hasn’t experienced any pushback.