for healthier options. He also makes
it a common practice to stock more
than 30 percent of Food Express's
snack machines with healthy selec-
tions. "Healthy products do sell,"
added Whitacre who uses dynamic
merchandising software to determine
the best mix of healthy items.
Technology is paramount
All of Food Express' 4,000 vending
machines utilize wireless telemetry,
prekitting, cashless and loyalty
programs. Cashless in particular
has been a valuable investment for
Whitacre. He reports that more than
20 percent of his vending sales come
from cashless payments and more
than 70 percent of the foodservice
sales. "The cashless percentage of
sales increases every month and
operators must embrace this to sur-
vive," said Whitacre.
For Whitacre, technology can be
utilized to combat some of the most
common vending industry struggles:
declining same store sales, govern-
mental scrutiny and even consumer
irrelevance. "My goal is to trans-
form the way we do business, the
way our consumer interacts with us
and signifcantly improve our indus-
try image," explained Whitacre. He
strives to become not just a successful
vending operator, but instead a food
and beverage retailer.
Micro markets have a place
Another rapidly expanding arena
for Food Express is the micro mar-
ket segment. Currently, the company
operates 40 micro markets. "The
consumer loves the concept, but
my biggest concern centers around
margin predictability," said Whita-
cre. Food Express runs monthly,
individual micro market proft and
loss statements. "There's no doubt
in my mind the P&L; is tight and
we've got room for improvement,"
Whitacre said.
Whitacre sees operators jumping
into micro markets because their
competitors are offering them or
Food Express
owns all of its own
assets including
drink machines
in order to put in
the selections that
customers want
to buy.
April 2014 VendingMarketWatch.com Automatic Merchandiser 21
S U C C E S S S T O R Y
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