bspells Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 Hey all. Not sure if you guys have come across this but I've found all of the USDA Smart Snack options for vending in schools. Alliance for a Healthier Generation also has a list of items in compliance. You can find that right here. And, if you feel like screening products yourself, here are the requirements for Smart Snacks. In addition to vending in schools, these items might be a good choice for something like Canteen's Choice Plus. I know I'll be looking to these guidelines in the future... Does anyone use this now outside of schools? If so, how is it working for you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJT Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 See this thread I started. http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/23522-my-thoughts-on-healthy-vending/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bspells Posted July 6, 2015 Author Share Posted July 6, 2015 See this thread I started. http://vendiscuss.net/index.php?/topic/23522-my-thoughts-on-healthy-vending/ Yeah I skimmed through that before I joined. You make some good points in there but I have to think most people sell at least a couple of the "acceptable" products. I'm trying to get a feel for how many people sell at least some of those products. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJT Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 Yeah I skimmed through that before I joined. You make some good points in there but I have to think most people sell at least a couple of the "acceptable" products. I'm trying to get a feel for how many people sell at least some of those products. Not sure what you mean by "acceptable products"? If you read my post I explain that even trying to do "healthy" is very hard to do from a vending business stand point. However, I think that offering a limited amount of healthy selections is smart and necessary especially in some accounts. The problem with that list or any list for that matter is you are still dealing with many processed foods. So "acceptable" can be very subjective from many different experts and in the field of nutrition. IMO the only true healthy items would be raw fruits, nuts, and vegetables. Even with that you will hear some "experts" say you should only eat nuts from trees, or only eat certain vegetables, fruits, etc because of this reason and that reason. Like I said you have to look at it strictly from a business prospective only not from a healthy prospective. If the demand is their then supply the customers with what they are demanding. Basic business 101 supply and demand is the driving factor for what accounts to do business with and what products you sell. I don't go by some list I go by what sells and suggest any vendor to do the same if they plan on staying in business. If an account wants all "healthy" and the demand is their then I would do it. If they wanted me to sell anything as long as it was legal I am all for it as long as the demand is high enough. Keep in mind "demand" means people spending money not what some HR person, politician, doctor, administrator, etc "demands". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discount Vending Store Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 I agree that Demand from the buyers is key to what you should stock. Further, I've found that being able to price the product low enough is essential when trying to vend healthy products. The problem with healthy is that it's not only unpopular for most folks, but it's also too expensive. Many of the really cool healthy products cost twice as much as a standard bag of chips or candy bar which makes them too hard to sell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJT Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 I agree that Demand from the buyers is key to what you should stock. Further, I've found that being able to price the product low enough is essential when trying to vend healthy products. The problem with healthy is that it's not only unpopular for most folks, but it's also too expensive. Many of the really cool healthy products cost twice as much as a standard bag of chips or candy bar which makes them too hard to sell. That's two problems, lower demand and a low margin issue which is double trouble. I will take a lower demand if it is offset by high margins but like you said that usually is not the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tc vending Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 To many rules not interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KychrisKy Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Rules don't apply to the teachers lounge where most of after school kids go, BAM they burn it up, I had to add a second machine to one of my middle schools Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJT Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Rules don't apply to the teachers lounge where most of after school kids go, BAM they burn it up, I had to add a second machine to one of my middle schools That really depends on each state, school district, and principal at each school. Some are more relaxed than others but all it takes is one parent complaining and that can end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoosier96 Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 I do really well in the schools I have for accounts. If you take a look at the list of products for schools, you'll notice they are not what I would consider healthy but they meet the guidelines that the good old government is making everyone follow for vending in schools. It appears to me, the snack companies helped write the guidelines and then tweaked their products to fit. For example, they may have shrunk the serving size, added a little bit of protein, made the first product a "whole grain", etc.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJT Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 I do really well in the schools I have for accounts. If you take a look at the list of products for schools, you'll notice they are not what I would consider healthy but they meet the guidelines that the good old government is making everyone follow for vending in schools. It appears to me, the snack companies helped write the guidelines and then tweaked their products to fit. For example, they may have shrunk the serving size, added a little bit of protein, made the first product a "whole grain", etc.... Are you doing healthy vending only? Are you doing it fulltime? In other words making fulltime money? If you read my post on healthy vending I talk about it working in limited situations where it is account dense enough to be able to have enough healthy accounts close enough to be able to service them withing a reasonable distance. Denver also has the demographic to support it. I think at one time Denver was LISTED AS one of the "healthiest" cities in the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoosier96 Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Overall my business is about 65% healthy and 35% traditional. Next month I'll be up to about 42-45 machines and it's full time. You're right, healthy vending works in Denver due to the demographics here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJT Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Overall my business is about 65% healthy and 35% traditional. Next month I'll be up to about 42-45 machines and it's full time. You're right, healthy vending works in Denver due to the demographics here. Congrats!! I am glad you are doing very well!! Keep in mind you need to grow large enough to pay yourself and at least one route driver before vending makes sense. If not if something happens to you then you will be in trouble fast. Its one thing to have a wife, cousin, brother, sister, friend helping you and filling in on occasion but you have to get to the size of two full time salaries or you could loose everything in just a few weeks if you cant run the route. This is not always the case but most times people don't have enough money from a wife, sitting cash, etc to get by until you can get back on the route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KychrisKy Posted July 11, 2015 Share Posted July 11, 2015 My schools are pretty relaxed then,alot of times I see kids go in and buy something during school hours and after school they burn it up, I had to place a extra machine at one school because teachers didn't have enough to buy for themselves, then I got one system that has bad low sales, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conallvending Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 I have one school and I do very very well there. Vistar has a list of approved snacks for schools. Most of these have the same margin as my regular snacks do. I keep some healthy in all my machines and do ok with them. Sun Chips and RF Cape Cod chips do well in all my machines. Yes the junk does better. Other then the school I would not do any all healthy machines. The only thing I dislike about the school is 2 months of almost no income. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poplady1 Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Several of the companies we work with handle schools and healthy vending very well. Certainly not something they shy away from especially in some of the school districts. These are probably the largest 3 companies in Southern California. My point being it is probably not for most independent vendors. Many offices want healthy vending but normally they will do a percentage of the machine (30%) is the normal range. I know of one vendor that tried very hard to turn his company into a 100% healthy menu. It failed. Thanks for the list bspells, all information is good information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Yeah. It's like only allowing Subway to be the fast food option in a town. The subway(ie. "Healthy") sales will definitely go up, but the overall sales will go way down as people just stop purchasing stuff. So yeah, going all healthy might cause your healthy items to sell better, but at the cost of the BULK of your junk food revenue. I already offer nuts, trail mix, pretzels, crackers, granola, and a few other " healthy" items in my machines. Water is available in almost half of my machines, and many machines are can machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcpd34 Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 All the machines in our county, where the students have access, must be programmed not NOT dispense soda's during school hours. Only drinks like water and Gatorade may be accessible. No money in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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