healthy vending companies. In fact,
some traditional operators have even
begun branching into healthy vending
in order to cater to changing location
requests. How does the healthy vend-
ing industry survive and what can the
traditional operator take away from it?
Here is a look inside the complicated
niche segment of healthy vending.
Niche that creates partnerships
Traditional operators and healthy
operators face similar challenges
and successes when it comes to busi-
ness growth.
Dan Trainor who operates a
Grow healthy vending business in
Southern California sees the advan-
tage of offering both healthy and
traditional vending. "I'm predomi-
nantly a healthy route operator," he
said. "But I've slowly added some
traditional locations."
Trainor started in October of 2010
with six machines. He now has 60
machines, a full-time driver, a part-
time employee who prekits and him-
self to run the business.
For Trainor, a big part of a suc-
cessful healthy vending business is
fnding new products to place in his
machines. Besides the products he
can get from Grow's distributor net-
work, he also looks at grocery stores,
online retailers and discount stores.
Some products, like organic, squeez-
able apple sauces, are available from
multiple retailers allowing Trainor to
shop around for the best price.
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C O V E R S T O R Y