Refreshments Made Easy Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 When is it a good time to jump in bed with the bottling companies, such as Coke, Pepsi, 7up? Can you guys tell me about the experiences you've had or are currently going through. Good or Bad. Do's and don't, pros and cons, etc. Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 A big question is... How much do you need them and how much can you order? Do you have a location where the zoning allows for their deliveries? Can you get leased equipment? The only bottler I use directly from is 7up. For the rest, I work with another friendly vendor. I also get some from my local Merchant's Mart (Vistar). I prefer to be kissed before I get screwed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SchligVend Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 Working with a bottler is great for many different reasons, No upfront investment to buy machines, Free deliveries, Free repairs or at least parts to fix machines.. Downside is you can only vend their products, you have to hit quota (shouldnt have a nice like new machine in a crap account anyways), Need a commercial location to get deliveries. Coke and Pepsi have been making it a lot harder for new vendors to get machines from them (at least in Arizona) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZVendor Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 You don't want to use any bottler machines unless you have a significant number of owned soda machines out to help you meet the purchase volumes required from the bottlers. They will require specific case count purchases to be made in each month, quarter or even year. If you don't place bottler assets in locations that exceed those case requirements then you'll need to make up the difference with purchase volume from your owned machines. If you put bottler assets in underperforming locations regularly you will quickly run out of cushion. You'll also find that you'll pay much higher wholesale prices to the bottlers which transfers your equipment investment into a reduced gross profit. You will likely be required to do your own repairs - basic ones certainly - but possibly more involved repairs if the bottler chooses to not do service calls for you. In the latter case they will provide the needed parts with the requirement that you pick the parts up from them. That is a worst case scenario. The real drawbacks are price increases, you might not get late model machines, you give up selectivity, and you may be at the mercy of the bottler as to the urgency they exihibit providing machines or doing service calls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Refreshments Made Easy Posted October 20, 2015 Author Share Posted October 20, 2015 A big question is... How much do you need them and how much can you order? Do you have a location where the zoning allows for their deliveries? Can you get leased equipment? The only bottler I use directly from is 7up. For the rest, I work with another friendly vendor. I also get some from my local Merchant's Mart (Vistar). I prefer to be kissed before I get screwed. As of right now I don't need them, I actually met with the Regional director this morning and he gave me the run down on how their program work for full line operators. The prices he quoted me are quite pricey to me...for instance Coke 12oz can is $9.29/case. All my locations allow for their deliveries [hence some of the locations used to be coke ]. He also said I can get loaned equipment after the first 6 months or a case by case basis [he will pull some strings]. This meeting for me was to help me understand that part of vending and once again how can I and my vending company benefit from a corporate partnership. Who is the friendly vendor? Vistar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 As of right now I don't need them, I actually met with the Regional director this morning and he gave me the run down on how their program work for full line operators. The prices he quoted me are quite pricey to me...for instance Coke 12oz can is $9.29/case. All my locations allow for their deliveries [hence some of the locations used to be coke ]. He also said I can get loaned equipment after the first 6 months or a case by case basis [he will pull some strings]. This meeting for me was to help me understand that part of vending and once again how can I and my vending company benefit from a corporate partnership. Who is the friendly vendor? Vistar? My friendly vendor is just a local competitor. We work deals out all the time. I even have an account of his that is a 3-account deal so he trusts me to keep them happy. I own the machines at one location but he has the contract. If I come across a big location that requires food or something too big, I'll refer it to him. If he comes across a smaller account in my area that is can/snack only, he'll often refer them to me. Vistar is one of the largest vebd-product distributors. They have just about everything. I have even bought things such as advil, razors, coffee, etc... Stuff you cannot get at Sam's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammer Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 FYI if you work out of your garage like I and the Bottlers won't go into the neighborhood with there trucks you can arrange to meet the truck and get your product that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conallvending Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 I have Pepsi machines in my locations. I have to purchase 10c per delivery. No weekly, monthly, or yearly quotas. They fix the machines. They have never sent parts and told me I had to fix myself. They deliver to my house. Coke now wants your account. Basically to have Coke machines in your account, they fill and service the account and pay you a commission. They will not deliver to my house. As I get more established I may take the Pepsi machines out of my accounts and put in my own but for now the arrangement with Pepsi works. I also need to get better at teching the machines before I pull the Pepsi machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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