Yummy Vending Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Hello, I am a newbie in the vending business and have a question for you guys. Have a nursing home account with 3 machines, a can, glass-front bottle, and a 4 wide snack machine. Account runs about $700/Wk in sales with 240 folks on staff. There is no restaurant within 10 miles of location and they only get 30 mins for lunch. They are screaming for us to add a frozen food machine. Given the above mentioned circumstances, would like some opinions, pros/cons of adding this machine. Thanks, John - Yummy Vending Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJT Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 I have similar accounts and wouldn’t add a frozen machine. With that said who is "screaming" for the frozen machine? If it is just employees and not the decision maker then I wouldn’t do it but if it is dependent on you possibly loosing the account then that is a different story that will need to be addressed. People are always asking for extra vending equipment like frozen, cold food, coffee, etc that is not justified in accounts. It has to make sense to put this type of equipment in or you will have more trouble than it is worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snack dude Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 I have a possible solution for you. Add another snack machine or take stuff that is not selling out of the existing machine and trial run shelf stable foods such as microwavable soups and stews and things of that type. Explain to them that if that sells then you will look at possibly adding a cold food or frozen machine. I just added a second snack machine to one of my bigger locations for shelf stable foods and things are going well. I already had the machine in my warehouse it was an older machine that I would not have placed in a new account, ( And I explained that to them) but because I have been there for several years they liked the idea. So rather than saying NO you can give it a trial run without a lot of capital outlay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moondog Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 As a side note - many vendors using these machines pay for a telemetry service to warn them of power outages and machine malfuntions - apparently the "melt downs" can get pretty expensive, not to mention the sticky clean up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparta_Automation Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 The clean up is definitely a mess, and melt downs can easily run into $150 - $200 depending on what you have stocked. I will tell you that if you have icecream in the machine, put those on the absolutely bottom shelf. A failed unit is much easier to clean when ice cream is limited to the bottom shelf, vs the top shelf, and the dripping mess it makes the whole way down. Now on to what to do. If you could find a decent machine for $2000 - $2500, then I would go for it. With that number of staff, I would expect somewhere around $400 - $600 in sales a month (based upon my own locations). If you can sell for double your cost, you should clear somewhere between $150 - $250 a month. So as you can see, the potential payback is not that far. I will warn you that frozen vending is a different animal then snacks, failure of the machine is almost certainly a loss of all merchandise, and repairs can be pretty expensive. When we have cooling deck issues, cost can be $300 - $600 to fix. STAY AWAY FROM FRESH MACHINES..... Travis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrCorey Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 hmm, you could also try ready to heat and eat food in the regular machines. like those entrees you see on the shelfs at walmart. don't need to be held cold. like you see in the c stores. soups and stews and entrees, spaghetti and lasagnas too. homel makes some neat stuff too, their entrees for one. chicken and potatoes and some other things, all they need is a microwave. look in the ready to eat shelfs at you local stores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJT Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 One of the biggest problems with frozen machines other than the ones already mentioned is that you are limited on the products you can stock that heats well from frozen. Most items with bread like burgers do not heat well from a frozen state. The bread gets real hard a chewy most times trying to heat from frozen. It does give you the option of doing ice cream which is nice and can be a decent seller in the summer. I have tried fresh machines in nursing homes that size and it just dosent make any money. People say they want it but they just dont use it like they say they will. Frozen would be no different or possibly worse because of the limited selection you can put in. In a fresh machine I can put in odd drink products like iced coffee, juice, etc to offset some capacity and more variety and it still did not work. Like others have said try some of the shelf stable meals in the snack machine and see how that goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southeast Treats Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 If you are looking at frozen, be sure to look at the Fastcorp robotic machines. I added 2 this year and I like them, the chest freezer holds the cold well and you can vend a lot of product. Sam's has some good microwave items (Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches, frozen cheeseburgers) that can be good sellers. One word on Fastcorp.... they are up to the 4th generation design of their machines, the first two generations are geting harder to repair, as even the factory can't get parts. The Evolution is the newest and you won't find them used yet, so look for a good used Z400... all that being said IF the account looks good for food vending, and it may just be... I like the sound of it anyway. Remember also that your customers will need a microwave, if you have to provide one it is some extra cost and may take a lot of abuse.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walta Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 RJT is correct if decision makers are asking for food put it in NOW. If you hesitate at all they may show you the door and have a new vender in there next week. You cannot easily find another 700 dollar a week location. Yes you will likely lose money on food but you are selling enough soda and snacks to carry the loss. Frozen product has a longer shelf life. If you go fresh you can fill the machine mostly with soda, juice, and chocolate bars. Walta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southeast Treats Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Walta's advise is good... know who is asking tho, I have a lot of "customers" make walk by requests when I am on site, it does not necessarily equal a big demand, but the decision maker's needs are most important.... another thought, you said no restaurant for 10 miles, but the nursing home has a kitchen producing at least 3 meals a day, probably including meals for staff. Your food sales will have to compliment their service, not compete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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