Team Mass Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Hi I was kind of curious about moving into the bulk chips, snacks, and food arena and was curious about finding out more information. I've been trying to figure out what I need to get started or if I should save up some more cash and move right in by acquisition. How would you reccomend getting started. Is it easier to start with soda vending? Or Snack Vending? Looking for advice on how to enter this market. Also how much start-up is needed for equipment/etc if I start from scratch versus acquiring by acquisition? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Hi I was kind of curious about moving into the bulk chips, snacks, and food arena and was curious about finding out more information. I've been trying to figure out what I need to get started or if I should save up some more cash and move right in by acquisition. How would you reccomend getting started. Is it easier to start with soda vending? Or Snack Vending? Looking for advice on how to enter this market. Also how much start-up is needed for equipment/etc if I start from scratch versus acquiring by acquisition? depends what your goals are. u can put some soda machines out at 30/wk locations easily. stock them once every 2-3 weeks and collect the $ with no commissions and very few headaches. you wont make a killing but a good easy income. you can take the same machines and go after higher traffic locations but a lot of headaches come along with that. if you do higher traffic locations u will have to do soda and snack, at a minimum. snack vending is hard to do with a low # of locations unless they do a very good volume. in terms of costs ...well you can get a single price soda machine around here for 200-350 pretty easily, snack machine deals are fewer and further between but YMMV. some people on here seem to find them all the time. getting started u might consider doing honor box vending because it has low start up costs, high return and will give you an idea of if you like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Mass Posted May 12, 2011 Author Share Posted May 12, 2011 Thank you for the quick reply. I know I'm going to move into this field but I'm still trying to gather up some cash flow. It seems everytime I get ready another project falls in lap and I have to spend the funds on it. Like this week buying a $1,200 crane because someone had it for sale on the cheap and I had a location for it already. My goal is to have atleast $30.00 per stop to collect. I suspect getting going on soda will be lower cost, but the snacks I believe should make better money. Is that correct? I can find machines for around 450-500 (snack machine) range fairly easy, I just don't know what a good price is for one. I don't want to get ripped off on my 1st purchase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Thank you for the quick reply. I know I'm going to move into this field but I'm still trying to gather up some cash flow. It seems everytime I get ready another project falls in lap and I have to spend the funds on it. Like this week buying a $1,200 crane because someone had it for sale on the cheap and I had a location for it already. My goal is to have atleast $30.00 per stop to collect. I suspect getting going on soda will be lower cost, but the snacks I believe should make better money. Is that correct? I can find machines for around 450-500 (snack machine) range fairly easy, I just don't know what a good price is for one. I don't want to get ripped off on my 1st purchase. It will be easier to place soda only locations that do 30-40 a week in sales than it will be to go for higher revenue and do soda and snacks. With the exception of the diet drinks your sodas will have a much longer shelf life before you have to worry about expiration dates. If/when you do get into snacks IMO you need to commit to getting enough volume going to limit your out of date issues, probably 8-10 full size machines. Yes the margins are a little better on snacks but you will lose that margin when stuff starts expiring and you have to pull it out of the machine. I would suggest building a small soda route and make sure you want to keep going in this direction before you jump into doing snacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Thank you for the quick reply. I know I'm going to move into this field but I'm still trying to gather up some cash flow. It seems everytime I get ready another project falls in lap and I have to spend the funds on it. Like this week buying a $1,200 crane because someone had it for sale on the cheap and I had a location for it already. My goal is to have atleast $30.00 per stop to collect. I suspect getting going on soda will be lower cost, but the snacks I believe should make better money. Is that correct? I can find machines for around 450-500 (snack machine) range fairly easy, I just don't know what a good price is for one. I don't want to get ripped off on my 1st purchase. in a higher volume location u can possibly do drinks 3rd party and just handle the snacks yourself saving a lot of money. $30 per stop is not really that great, i would say its your absolute minimum but if you have something like a $250 can drink machine there ok maybe no big deal. at least its not much work. i have a stop that does 45-50 a week drink only very consistant takes only 15min to service it, the machine is ancient and terrible condition so theres really no chance that machine could be making me better money elsewhere. so thats an example..hope it makes sense what im trying to get across. to say something is a good deal or bad deal, it depends on the machine and condition just like in bulk vending im sure. 500 for a snack machine could be a great deal but it could be some old POS that you cant find parts for. You might consider talking to RJT ...i dont know if he comes on here much, but i'd suggest PM or email him directly he can help you out a lot tto give you advice on what direction to go in based on what your business objectives are. It will be easier to place soda only locations that do 30-40 a week in sales than it will be to go for higher revenue and do soda and snacks. With the exception of the diet drinks your sodas will have a much longer shelf life before you have to worry about expiration dates. If/when you do get into snacks IMO you need to commit to getting enough volume going to limit your out of date issues, probably 8-10 full size machines. Yes the margins are a little better on snacks but you will lose that margin when stuff starts expiring and you have to pull it out of the machine. I would suggest building a small soda route and make sure you want to keep going in this direction before you jump into doing snacks. ur 100% right i was having massive problems with stales until i started doing the honor boxes, that has somewhat solved the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinnJinn Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 As I have learned, 3rd party is a great way to build capital, However they want to see at least 100 cases per machine per year, which pretty much equals out to 8 vends a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. If you don't meet their quota, they have been known to pick the machines up and you are SOL In some areas they have things they want to see. ex, in Mission's area in Texas, they want you to prove you have been in business for a couple years. In Indiana, Coke is no problem, but Pepsi wants you to order over 500 cases from them before they will even THINK about giving you a 3rd party machine, And it isn't always a promise that they will. And with all bottlers, they want a commercial address to deliver your product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 However they want to see at least 100 cases per machine per year, which pretty much equals out to 8 vends a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. My "quota" is 185 cases per year per machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinnJinn Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 My "quota" is 185 cases per year per machine. Holy Cow!!!! Do you think it is due to glass fronts? or are they for "regular" vendors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anyvendingcom Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 Soda's have a better profit margins. Also, my machines, when there is a soda and a snack machine next to each other in a location, the soda machine makes more. Is that true for all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coinvestor Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 Soda's have a better profit margins. Also, my machines, when there is a soda and a snack machine next to each other in a location, the soda machine makes more. Is that true for all? The general stat that I have seen for the sales split is 60% drinks and 40% snacks. It seems fairly accurate. JD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spdydre Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 I think it depends how long and far you want to go with the business. I started from one machine if I had the chance I would rather have purchased a small route 10-15 machines and gone from there if I liked it. I would only stick to soda machines and avoid snack at all cost. I hate snack machines lol and I am only trying to do soda machines from here on out and coffee service. I know that limits my business but thats fine with me because my main focus is to use this money to feed into another business not retire from vending. I dont even have ten snack machines and its already a headache. Complaints about why a kit kat was broken, why there are no powdered donuts and only chocolate donuts, why cinnabuns are a dollar etc etc etc it never ends. When it comes to food people start to bother you lol. There is a vendor down here he has 120 3rd party soda machines and no snack machines lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 Holy Cow!!!! Do you think it is due to glass fronts? or are they for "regular" vendors? Don`t know. Never asked. I currently have 6 glassfronts and 3 stacker machine through Coke. The rest I own. Actually my quota number has gone down, 2 years ago the number was 240 cases, 20 per month per machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 The general stat that I have seen for the sales split is 60% drinks and 40% snacks. It seems fairly accurate. JD I would agree with the 60/40 numbers for a standard soda/snack setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Mass Posted May 15, 2011 Author Share Posted May 15, 2011 I noticed a few of you have hot beverage machines. Have you done well with them? I use to service 2 of them but it was almost 15 years ago since I worked on one. Have they improved the quality or are they still about the same? I am looking into buying a few soda machines shortly. I just need to make some room in my warehouse 1st. Everyone here has been very helpful. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 I noticed a few of you have hot beverage machines. Have you done well with them? I use to service 2 of them but it was almost 15 years ago since I worked on one. Have they improved the quality or are they still about the same? I am looking into buying a few soda machines shortly. I just need to make some room in my warehouse 1st. Everyone here has been very helpful. Thank you. To answer your question, yes the new hot bev machines are much better. However, they are still a high maintenance machine. I will do everything possible to avoid placing one but if that gets me a 400/week account I`m willing to do it. In other words I don`t actively include them in a bid or solicitation unless specifically requested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beach Bum Vending Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 The thing you also have to consider is the area in which you live. Well this is some what true even in the deep south. I live in mid west and you have to be ready for the seasons. In summer time you can't keep enough pop & water in the machines. In the winter time pop drops off and people eat more snacks. There will be slow periods around the holidays because people have pot lucks. But just something else to consider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbishop Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 I would follow the advice from "My Vending Uncle" Try to get 3rd party soda machines. I had good luck others have not , it depends on your area. Then add Honor box vending for snacks, if a location is doing great offer them a snack machine. Stay out of debt and grow as you go. I worked full time almost 3 yrs while building up my route. Most of my locs were accessible 24/7 and I would hit them after work. Since quitting my job in March, I have been able to locate more and I am growing faster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technivend Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 New coffee machines are around $5000.00. You need to have the right location to justify this investment. In N.E. coffee does sell well but more so in the colder months (like now??) than the summer (which I don't think we will ever see this year). If you buy used you are buying the inherent problems with a used machine and more often then not the increase in labor to keep them going. The machines are so different from 15 years ago as it is the foo foo coffee that sells more now instead of the real coffee. You are in an area that is very competitive and pretty saturated. The fact that you are looking for lower volume locations will be your in as most vendors in these parts want big and bigger locations. Depending on how much you want to invest and how committed you are I would suggest looking at the 3rd party deal with Coke and/or Pepsi and start out that way. Full size snacks can be profitable as well but it is hard to rotate your inventory when you only have one or two machines. So before you jump into snack vending you need to be fully committed and get multiple machines out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJT Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 in a higher volume location u can possibly do drinks 3rd party and just handle the snacks yourself saving a lot of money. $30 per stop is not really that great, i would say its your absolute minimum but if you have something like a $250 can drink machine there ok maybe no big deal. at least its not much work. i have a stop that does 45-50 a week drink only very consistant takes only 15min to service it, the machine is ancient and terrible condition so theres really no chance that machine could be making me better money elsewhere. so thats an example..hope it makes sense what im trying to get across. to say something is a good deal or bad deal, it depends on the machine and condition just like in bulk vending im sure. 500 for a snack machine could be a great deal but it could be some old POS that you cant find parts for. You might consider talking to RJT ...i dont know if he comes on here much, but i'd suggest PM or email him directly he can help you out a lot tto give you advice on what direction to go in based on what your business objectives are. ur 100% right i was having massive problems with stales until i started doing the honor boxes, that has somewhat solved the problem. Yea, I am still kicking!! I have been busy with a on site consulting job for the past few months but hopefuly will see some light at the end of the tunnel soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 Yea, I am still kicking!! I have been busy with a on site consulting job for the past few months but hopefuly will see some light at the end of the tunnel soon. So you just kick us to the curb for a paying gig? :lol: Sounds like you are doing well my friend, congrats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJT Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 So you just kick us to the curb for a paying gig? :lol: Sounds like you are doing well my friend, congrats. Nahh, I missed you guys but I been pretty busy. I am always just a PM or email away if ya miss me that much...LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.