S C H O O L V E N D IN G
More schools embrace
SELF-OP nutrition
VENDING to promote
By Elliot Maras, Editor
School foodservice directors fi nd high-tech vending machines interface with POS cafeteria systems, improving access for kids and helping comply with funding rules.
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Karen Lawson-Carter of the Hudson, Ohio schools notes the cafeteria is already using biometric identification in the food line.
wo years ago, Clell Hoff- man, the foodservice director at Albany Unifi ed School District in Albany, Calif., decided it was time to replace the beverage vend- ing machines at the high school. Hoffman wanted to offer more than 16.9-ounce water and juice. The state nutrition rules he had to meet, coupled with the fact that the bottles had to be fairly rugged to prevent possible breakage in the stacker beverage machines, severely limited his product choices.
When Hoffman found out about
the variable temperature machine offered by Vend-ucation, a school
vending resource based in Dunbar- ton, N.H., he was intrigued. Not being a stacker machine, it is less restricted in product choices. And being a combination snack/beverage machine, he could also offer snacks. But that wasn't all.
The Alpine SZ 5000 machine
made by U-Select-It Corp. came with remote machine monitoring hardware, enabling Hoffman to monitor transac- tions via the Internet. There would be no more manual inventorying. Two years later, Hoffman is glad he made the change. He has been able to provide students a variety of snacks and beverages that meet Cali- fornia's strict nutrition rules. Vending
Automatic Merchandiser VendingMarketWatch.com May 2012
sales have more than quadrupled. The two Alpine machines bring in more than $4,000 per month, com- pared to the $750 the two previous bottle drop machines did. And because of the greater
variety of products, his average gross margin has increased from 40 percent to 55 percent. "This machine is really versatile as far as what kind of products we can put in there," Hoffman said. He is offering protein bars, 8-ounce juice, string cheese, seaweed, half sandwiches, dried fruit, baked chips, and bottled water.
Hoffman is not concerned about the stricter nutrition rules that take
A student enters his pin number to pur- chase lunch from a Star Food machine at a Miami County, Fla. school.