Minimum amount of candy that looks professional in a vending machine

[mbajohn1990]

I have some low selling locations that I don't want to pull but I don't want to load them up with inventory.  They hold 8-10lbs per head and 330 gumballs.  How little candy can I put in each head before the shop or customers get a bad impression from the candy level? I use gumballs, skittles, and peanut m&ms. 

[gumball guy]

14 hours ago, mbajohn1990 said:

I have some low selling locations that I don't want to pull but I don't want to load them up with inventory.  They hold 8-10lbs per head and 330 gumballs.  How little candy can I put in each head before the shop or customers get a bad impression from the candy level? I use gumballs, skittles, and peanut m&ms. 

I try to fill based on sales so I won't fill up a machine completely unless I expect it to be empty or under 25% left by the time the next service cycle comes up. If I have a triple and only one selection seems to be selling well at the moment I will only fill the other two selections to about 1/4 to 1/3 full. Obviously I change things up a few times to see if anything else moves but if it doesn't I will generally change the two slow canisters to a pressed candy such as Runts, Lotsa Sours. Cotton Candy etc... to reduce shrink because have a very long shelf life. The last thing you want to do is fill a canister full of peanut M & M's just to throw them away in 6-9 months because they are stale. As long as you are on a consistent 2-3 month service schedule you shouldn't have any issues with locations thinking the machine isn't being cared for. Honestly they often pay no attention to it at all unless someone complains about stale candy or losing money.