Where do I get healthy snacks to stock my vending machines with?

[sexypizza]

Hey guys,

 

I'm planning on starting a vending machine business in my country. I'll have 4 machines to start with. And I'm going to be focusing strictly on healthy snacks as there seems to be a real need for it here (my country is in the top ten fattest countries in the world). And most of my machines will be in schools. 

 

The problem is that there aren't that many healthy snacks here that are worth stocking my vending machines with. So I was thinking of just importing snacks from other countries. 

 

I'm interested in products like this 

https://www.freshvending.com/products/

 

 

My questions are: 

 

1- Is importing snacks from other countries a viable way of stocking vending machines? or is it too troublesome? 

 

2- Where can I buy these snacks?

 

[Chard]

I imagine shipping costs will be prohibitively expensive to ship items from out of country.  You could always try walmart.com or amazon.com

[moondog]

Hey guys,

 

I'm planning on starting a vending machine business in my country. I'll have 4 machines to start with. And I'm going to be focusing strictly on healthy snacks as there seems to be a real need for it here (my country is in the top ten fattest countries in the world). And most of my machines will be in schools. 

 

The problem is that there aren't that many healthy snacks here that are worth stocking my vending machines with. So I was thinking of just importing snacks from other countries. 

 

I'm interested in products like this 

https://www.freshvending.com/products/

 

 

My questions are: 

 

1- Is importing snacks from other countries a viable way of stocking vending machines? or is it too troublesome? 

 

2- Where can I buy these snacks?

First off, you need to stock what sells.  Given that there is  a lack of healthy snacks in your area should tell you something - there is obviously no market for these products.  If you plan on staying in business, you need to focus on your profit regardless of how fat the people are in your country.

[sexypizza]

First off, you need to stock what sells.  Given that there is  a lack of healthy snacks in your area should tell you something - there is obviously no market for these products.  If you plan on staying in business, you need to focus on your profit regardless of how fat the people are in your country.

 

Hi,

 

There is a market for this here, Its an obese country. There are a lot of people here that would like to lose weight or just stay healthy. There are a lot of restaurants and other companies that sell health foods. But there aren't many healthy snacks in pre-packaged form. The few that we do have are generally mediocre, moreover, There are no vending machines here that are focusing on distributing healthy foods. So this is what I'm trying to fix. 

 

I just need to be able to stock my vending machines with quality products. 

[AngryChris]

Hi,

There is a market for this here, Its an obese country. There are a lot of people here that would like to lose weight or just stay healthy. There are a lot of restaurants and other companies that sell health foods. But there aren't many healthy snacks in pre-packaged form. The few that we do have are generally mediocre, moreover, There are no vending machines here that are focusing on distributing healthy foods. So this is what I'm trying to fix.

I just need to be able to stock my vending machines with quality products.

Having a NEED for healthy snacks and a DEMAND for healthy snacks are two completely different things. While people might need to eat healthier, that doesn't mean they will buy it out of a vending machine. We are warning you because you could invest a lot in a losing battle. People get obese from poor eating habits generally and you can't save them by deciding what their options are in a vending machine. If you don't have the junk they want, they'll get it elsewhere. Having said that...

Healthy vending options are often not very healthy. Most of us on this forum are from the US so we don't need to import anything and have no experience with that. You may have to figure out if it's viable on your own. Most of us, though, have little luck with healthy vending. It often tastes bad, leaves you hungry, over priced, not actually healthy, etc..

[Southeast Treats]

If you are vending to students in US schools, all of your items need to meet federal school food standards.  There are some links to help with that, will try to post some later.  Getting the right products is the very hard part.  Low demand means most distributors will stock very few of these items, and not everything they do stock will sell.   I had a very hard time getting products for my school location, and after a very damaging weekend breakin I just decided the location was not for me at this time.  That was more about lack of security for my machines than about the volume of business, because the location did quite well.  I did find some good selling products that meet standards - Reduced Fat Doritos (especially the spicy sweet chili flavor); popcorners chips, whole grain cheese its, whole grain pop-tarts (single packs) all did pretty well for me.  You don't saw what country you are in, but somewhere near you there are distributors serving your market.  You may need to special order in large quantities to get the right products.  You have one advantage serving schools with healthy vending; they are a captive audience with limited choices for the most part, so if you find products they like you should do well.  BUT, If they have access to other sources with items they like better, that is where they will go.