shepherdsflock Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 What salty bulk items have people had success with? I'm think about cashews or peanuts, but I'm concerned about the lifespan of the product. Candy can stay good for a couple of months if its not in sunlight or high heat and humidity, but do nuts stay good very long? I've been watching the folks at my location and they buy a lot of chips and other salty stuff out of the full line machines and I'm thinking about replacing some of my bulk underperforming bulk products with something salty. Right now I'm vending Reese's Pieces (top performer, definitely not pulling them), plain M&Ms, and Peanut M&Ms. The Peanut M&Ms are my lowest performer and I'm thinking about swapping them out. What do you guys recommend? Peanuts, cashews, maybe something else that I haven't thought about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherlock Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 I have a couple of locations that go through cashews and peanuts like crazy. The cost of the product is getting very high though. I am reviewing my options at these locations for just that reason. Some complain about the corrosion of metal parts when vending salty products. That may also be a concern to consider. Personally, my salty products are at locations wherein I'm using a Vendesign. Pretty much only plastic parts come in contact with the product with those machines. So, even though they have vended peanuts/cashews for years, there is little/no corrosion on those machines as yet. Keep corrosion in mind for your machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bravo Duck Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Anything with salt on it corrodes the hopper, vend portioner, center rod and exposed areas of the coin mech within a short time. That and the short shalf life make vending salty products not worth it for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepherdsflock Posted February 18, 2012 Author Share Posted February 18, 2012 Corrosion shouldn't be a problem with my Vendstar. Of all the negative things you can say about Vendstars, one good thing is there are few metal parts to corrode. I am still worried about the lifespan of the product. I don't want to dump a bunch of money into buying nuts and have them go stale before they sell. I guess there's no easy to know if they will sell except to buy some and try it. That seems to be the risk you take in vending... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherlock Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 I am still worried about the lifespan of the product. I don't want to dump a bunch of money into buying nuts and have them go stale before they sell. I guess there's no easy to know if they will sell except to buy some and try it. That seems to be the risk you take in vending... You are correct. But, don't dump a bunch of money to start with. Try it at a couple of locations and expand from there. It shouldn't cost you much to just sample a couple of locations at a time. Keep the good ones, switch out the nuts where they don't sell. In the locations where I keep peanuts and/or cashews, lifespan has never been a problem. If lifespan is a problem, then just quit using nuts in those spots. It's no different than any other product in that respect...you wouldn't keep using gumballs in a location where they don't sell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rxmark Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 M&M pretzel would be a great choice but they are so expensive compared to others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrodude Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 On my first servicing after I bought a route, 2 separate machines vending mixed nuts had weevils and moths in them. I have no idea how long it had been since being serviced, but it was pretty discouraging seeing all the moths flying around inside the machine! It was in a Vendstar and the other canisters with candy also had a critter or 2 in them. I have since eliminated most of the mixed nuts but where I do have them I keep the product level low to insure turnover and swap out the canister about every 3 months or so to clean it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belizexp Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 When I started out I only dealt with gumballs and candies but my last few locations made request for peanuts and cashews so far so good but it something I would stock seasonal. Living in New York with a big West Indian population also help move the products. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerformaVending Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Trail mix? I was turned off of it due to slow sales and insufficient locations, but many mixes can be found for low costs. Something else to consider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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