Automatic Merchandiser

MAY 2012

Automatic Merchandiser serves the business management, marketing, technology and product information needs of its readers including vending operators, coffee service operators, product brokers, and product and equipment distributors in print.

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S C H O O L V E N D IN G Educating the younger generation Schools already have their own walk-in refrigerators and freezers for storing product. Many schools have staff that can manage vending machines along with their onsite feeding. What's the benefi t of this growing self-op movement to the vending industry? The younger generation is associating vending with healthy products. And based on most accounts, the kids like the new machines. "We are feeding more kids and using today's tech- nology to do it," explained Bob Gottlieb, director of Star Foods, a division of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based VE South Inc., a provider of school vending solutions. Got- tlieb said there are about 250 Star Food machines on site nationwide. The Star Food machine is a fi rst-in, fi rst-out, carou- sel, refrigerated machine made by N&W; Global Vending S.p.a., based in Valbrembo, Italy, that can use wireless reporting and biometric identifi cation. Gottlieb said most schools initially become interested in machines as a way to augment manual feeding lines. "Cafeterias are bursting at the seams," he said. He noted Schools use vending to support various health initiatives Healthier meal requirements are a component of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which was championed by First Lady Michelle Obama as part of her Let's Move! campaign and signed into law by President Obama. Besides meeting the rules of the school lunch program, schools are also participating in The HealthierUS School Challenge, a voluntary initiative that recognizes schools that have created healthier school environments through promotion of nutrition and physical activity. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the First Lady launched the Recipes for Healthy Kids com- petition last September, challenging kids, nutrition professionals and community members to develop healthy recipes to be incorporated on lunch menus for the National School Lunch program. The contest is a component of the First Lady's broader Let's Move! initiative that also includes Chefs Move to Schools, which encourages chefs to work with schools in their communities. that the Star Food machines have generated a lot of positive media coverage. But the schools are also fi nding the vending machines support their health education initiatives. School vending machines are not presently required to comply with federal school food nutrition rules. Some do have to comply with state and local rules. But beyond these requirements, many schools have recog- nized the benefi cial role vending machines can play in supporting their nutrition initiatives. Hence, many are applying cafeteria food standards to their vending offerings. (See sidebar above.) Schools recognize vending's benefi ts Pinellas County Schools, based in Largo, Fla. has placed 180 vending machines at 10 schools since 2006, noted Art Dunham, director of foodservices. Previously, the foodservice operation did not use vending machines. Dunham said it was not hard for the foodservice staff to prepare the meals and place them in the machines. The 20 Star Food machines in Pinellas County report the number of meals served to the cafeteria POS system, which prepares daily reports that the schools use to demonstrate compliance with gov- ernment funding requirements. After school, the 26 Automatic Merchandiser VendingMarketWatch.com May 2012

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