If you don’t know what I mean, consider yourself lucky. Starting in the early ’90s, cash-strapped public schools began selling exclusive “pouring rights” to one or another Big Soda company, which would then supply all the beverages sold in on-site snack bars, stores, and soda machines as well as at sports events. Along with sugary drinks, of course, the companies also stuffed the schools with plenty of advertisements.
One company making a difference improving the food environment in the U.S. today is Fresh Healthy Vending.
“The rate of childhood obesity is considered to be triple what it was a generation ago,” explains Dan Negroni, the chief executive officer and president of Fresh Healthy Vending. “Our mission is to be part of the solution in fighting childhood obesity, and this is just one more way that we are helping to do that.”
In 2005, according to one survey, nearly half of all public elementary schools and about 80 percent of public high schools operated under pouring rights contracts. It’s clear what the schools get for their trouble. It’s no wonder that schools turn to selling junky snack food and cutting deals with sugary soda makers to augment stingy school-lunch budgets. As of 2011, we were spending more than twice as much on air conditioning for troops in Afghanistan than we do on feeding public school kids. The soda deals subsidize other aspects of schooling, too. Here’s how the Rockford Register Star describes a contract between the Rockford, Illinois school district and Coca-Cola:
Under the existing 10-year contract, Coca-Cola paid the district $4 million upfront and an additional $350,000 a year to sell its beverages in schools. The annual payments have funded field trips, gym uniforms, SMART Boards and other frills that individual school budgets may not otherwise have afforded. But what are they giving up in return? A just-released study by University of Illinois researchers compares the weight gain of kids in states that limit in-school junk food sales with those of kids in states that don’t. The results, summarized by The New York Times:
Students who lived in states with strong laws throughout the entire three-year period gained an average of 0.44 fewer body mass index units, or roughly 2.25 fewer pounds for a 5-foot-tall child, than adolescents in states with no policies. The study also found that obese fifth graders who lived in states with stronger laws were more likely to reach a healthy weight by the eighth grade than those living in states with no laws. The study didn’t definitively prove that unimpeded junk food sales in schools causes the higher weight gain—they established correlation, but not causation. But the researchers did adjust their results to account for other factors that might have influenced kids’ weight, including age, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.
And their finding come on the heels of another study, released in May and by the same researchers, that found that kids in California schools, where junk food sales are limited, take in significantly fewer total calories than kids in states with no such restrictions. Here’s how The Times summarized it:
The study found that California high school students consumed on average nearly 160 calories fewer per day than students in other states, the equivalent of cutting out a small bag of potato chips. That difference came largely from reduced calorie consumption at school, and there was no evidence that students were compensating for their limited access to junk food at school by eating more at home. According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, obesity rates among children ages 6 to 11 have quadrupled over the past four decades, and nearly a third of children and adolescents—more than 23 million kids and teenagers—are obese or overweight.
The latest research on junk food in schools suggests an axiom that I might have hoped would be obvious: It makes no sense to transform public schools into a vehicle for marketing junk food to kids. In 2010, President Obama signed a law requiring the USDA to come up with national standards for snack foods and beverages sold in schools. The agency has yet to complete that task.
Based in San Diego, Fresh Healthy Vending is a company that started in 2010 and is revolutionizing vending machines by filling them with healthy, natural and organic food and beverage options. Dubbed the “future of vending” Fresh is the largest Healthy Vending company in North America.
The Fresh Healthy Vending Snack machines offer 100-percent juices, fresh vegetables, fruits, smoothies, and yogurts amongst other healthy snacks and beverages. The Fresh Healthy Vending machines are franchised and are being placed in schools, offices and other locations throughout the world. To learn more about Fresh Healthy Vending, visit the website at www.freshvending.com.
To find out more about how you can be part of the Fresh Healthy revolution and get a free machine placed in your school or business, visit www.freshandealthy.org
Fresh Healthy Vending delivers healthy eating and healthy profits!
FOX 5 San Diego’s “On the Money” segment explored yesterday how serious investors are joining the movement of healthy eating, and cashing in on health food vending through Fresh Healthy Vending, the first healthy vending machine offering franchise businesses across the country.
Dan Negroni, CEO of Fresh Healthy Vending, explained why Fresh Healthy Vending is an excellent option for investors searching for a low-overhead, high-profit franchise business.
“Once you buy the machine, there’s not much else to do,” said Negroni. “You service it well, you run your business well, and then you collect monthly reoccurring revenue.”
Recognizing the growing demand for healthy food in response to the country’s obesity problem, Negroni believes that Fresh Healthy Vending is an altruistic way to be a part of the solution, while still generating a profit.
“There are over 6 million vending machines in the country, and we have 200,000 healthy ones,” said Negroni. “We have our work cut out for us.”
To learn more about owning a franchise of Fresh Healthy Vending, or putting a Fresh Healthy Vending machine in your school, business or facility, please visit http://freshvending.com/.
We all know about the importance of fresh fruits and veggies in our diet, but sometimes hunger strikes and we’re forced to get a snack (or even a meal) from a vending machine.
Many, if not most foods you find in them aren’t generally thought of as being all that good for you, but some are better than others – and the options may be getting even better soon.
On “The Early Show” Thursday, ShopSmart magazine Editor in Chief Lisa Lee Freeman showed viewers the “healthiest” options from the average vending machine.
“There are some healthy options in vending machines,” Freeman says, “but there are going to be cases where you are choosing the lesser of two evils. Obviously, the better choice is a piece of fruit, really the best snack is not processed — like and egg or fruit with peanut butter.”
But the choices in a typical vending machine could include, say, candy bars, some of which, she says, “have as much fat as in an entire meal. In fact, a McDonald’s burger with the bun and ketchup and everything is 250 calories, and one Twix bar could have almost three times as much saturated fat as that burger.”
As a rule of thumb, you might find the healthiest choice with a quick glance at a vending machine by looking for the snack that takes the most time to consume. “That helps give your brain a chance to register that you’ve had something to eat,” Freeman explains.
Vending machines of the future
Part of the new health care reform law requires operators with more than 20 machines to show their calorie counts. As the Food and Drug Administration tries to figure out how best to implement those requirements, new machines are popping up that have healthier products, Freeman observes.
For instance, she adds, Fresh Healthy Vending has machines with healthy drinks and snacks, featuring brands such as Stonyfield Farms yogurts and smoothies, Earth Bound Farms carrots, Honest drinks, Kashi, Back to Nature, Tazo Teas, Roberts Pirates Booty and Horizon milks. The company launched in June 2010 and says it has more than 2,000 vending machines in schools, hospitals, office buildings, health clubs and shopping malls. The items are replaced regularly — fresh items obviously don’t have the shelf life of junk food. Items in a typical vending machine range in price from 50 cents to $1 per item. Fresh vending items average $1.25 each (fresh ingredients are more expensive).
Can vending machines take away market share from the quick-service segment? Not only do some experts think it’s possible, others wonder if it’s already happening.
The vending sector was deeply affected by the recession, but it seems to be making a comeback thanks to a confluence of trends. For example, vending manufacturers have added unique technology to machines that has driven intrigue and improved food quality, and consumers like the idea of bypassing restaurant lines for the sake of speed and convenience.
According to Elliot Maras, editor of Automatic Merchandiser Magazine, some technology innovations in vending include remote machine monitoring, cashless payment, mobile phone payment, mobile media marketing and micro markets. The item level tracking capabilities which allow remote machine monitoring also allow category management in vending.
He adds that the demand for vending has grown because people want to consume food at their convenience. QSRs and convenience stores specifically have conditioned consumers for this on-demand trend. The biggest obstacle vending faces is the economics of the expensive and complex machines, particularly during the down economy.
Fresh Healthy Vending didn’t get its start until after the recession, and has benefitted from the increased demand in this sector. Dan Negroni, CEO, said the company has grown to more than 1,600 locations in the two years it’s been in existence, with continued significant franchising interest.
“Demand for healthy snacks, drinks and coffee is growing. People want great choices in vending where they work, live and lay, and we provide them with that opportunity,” he said. “It is a very exciting time in healthy vending.”
Negroni adds that the Fresh Healthy Vending platform brings whole bean espresso-based coffee drinks, healthy foods and snacks to the workplace. Coincidentally, beverages and snacks are two of the fastest-growing opportunities for the QSR segment.
Negroni doesn’t consider the QSR segment to be a direct competitor, but Suzy Badaracco, president of Culinary Tides Inc., sees the vending threat to restaurants as “50/50.”
“A consumer sees a Starbucks and a high-quality coffee vending machine, and what will have more pull for them depends on many factors. There will definitely be reasons people will always choose vending. The keys are food quality, which is getting better because of technology, food options and location,” she said. “Also, there is definitely a competition here for certain parts of the day. Vending has two advantages over a walk-in or drive-thru: It can be unmanned for 24 hours and open for 24 hours.”
Potential for brand extension
Badaracco believes some brands have enough leverage to take any competitive threat from vending and instead turn it into an extra revenue stream.
“It’d be the same thing as the frozen food segments that a lot of brands have now. It doesn’t hurt their brand, it helps it. Vending’s success, I think, is just a matter of having a big name – like a McDonald’s or a Domino’s – that is willing to experiment with it until the quality and consistency is just right. And with the new technologies, that is very possible,” she said.
Maras points to Seattle’s Best Coffee’s vending machine as an example of this, and Sprinkles Cupcakes is another. The California-based cupcakery expanded on its brick and mortar with a vending machine that dispenses fresh cupcakes like an ATM. (See how it works here.) If a McDonald’s or a Domino’s were to jump into vending, Badaracco said the brand extension opportunities could be very exciting.
“You could offer vending specific items, or test items there first and then roll them out to your traditional restaurants or vice versa. Vending’s potential is extremely high in the U.S. right now because of the technology advances – which appeal to the Gen X and Gen Z generations. It just needs a brand champion,” she said.
Examples of vending innovations
The vending machines trickling onto the market now have well evolved past the familiar chips/crackers/candy bar providers located in the office break room. Most of these innovations have happened overseas, but Badaracco believes they could translate successfully here because of the novelty factor. Some of the more cutting-edge machines in the industry include:
Asahi Vending Machines (out of Japan) offer alcoholic beverages and a free wireless Internet signal within a 50-meter radius. “If you’re sitting there using the free WiFi, you’re more likely to buy something from the machine,” Badaracco said.
Pizzametry and Let’s Pizza both create hot pizzas in minutes.
Sprinkles Cupcakes created the first 24-hour cupcake vending machine that acts similarly to an ATM.
TaxiTreats is the brainchild of two college students who entered and won a business competition. The concept brings small, snack-filled vending machines to NYC’s taxi cabs; a great idea, Badaracco says, for people who are in a rush.
PepsiCo’s Lay’s vending machine debuted in Argentina in 2011 and creates Lay’s potato chips on demand from real potatoes. The machine even bags them up for customers.
“These are radically different technologies from each other. Every single one of them is totally different. So, think about what these could spin off. This is a huge technology birth we’re watching and it’s really exciting,” Badaracco said.
For more information visit us at freshvending.com. To get a FREE Fresh Healthy Vending machine at your school or business, visit freshandhealthy.org
Fresh Healthy Vending, Who Has Given Away Over $100,000, is on a Mission to Replace Junk Food Vending With Healthy Vending
Schools and businesses looking to earn grant money and replace unhealthy vending machines with healthy ones are in luck. Fresh Healthy Vending, a leader in the healthy vending machine industry, has an initiative where they are offering $1 million in grant funding to schools and businesses that are seeking to bring in their healthy vending machines.
“We are pleased to announce that we have already given away over $100,000 of the $1 million in funds allocated to replace junk food machines with Fresh Healthy Vending machines,” explains Dan Negroni, CEO of Fresh Healthy Vending. “This is a great way for Schools, YMCAs, Health Clubs, Hospitals and Office buildings to earn money for taking the initiative to reshape the health of communities by offering healthy snacking options.”
The company has also recently re-launched their Website, FreshandHealthy.org, as well as their nationwide initiative to eliminate junk food vending in schools and other locations across North America.
Schools and other locations can also take comfort knowing that these Fresh Healthy Vending machines help address the nationwide obesity issue by conveniently offering people the healthy food options they want, deserve and need. The FreshandHealthy.Org Initiative allows us to pay up to $500 per machine installed in each selected school or business location and Fresh Healthy Vending intends on giving away the remainder of the $1 million within the next 24 months. With the school year beginning, Fresh Healthy Vending will deliver and install its bright, high tech vending machines for free. The company’s professional operators are local representatives of the community and are extensively trained in the healthy vending business. The grant based initiative ensures each machine is stocked with all-healthy, natural and organic food options, including fresh vegetables, fruits, yogurts, smoothies, 100-percent fruit juices, tea and healthy granola bars, among other items.
In an effort to extend this initiative to locations in addition to schools, the company recently launched an exclusive offering the only vending machine in the world to offer both healthy beverages and snacks along with a variety of organic coffee specialty drinks such as vanilla chai tea, café latte, cappuccino and more.
For more information about joining the Initiative and getting paid to have Fresh Healthy Vending machines at your location please visit www.freshandhealthy.org or call us today at (858) 210-4200.
Thanks to the fantastic response, Fresh Healthy Vending and Healthy Child Healthy World are excited to announce that we’ve extended the deadline for entries in our contest to give away a free healthy vending machine placement to August 31.
The winning entry will choose their favorite location to have the machine placed, completely stocked with healthy foods and beverages. The move is the latest in a series of ongoing efforts to help fight childhood obesity, an issue that the Centers for Disease Control says now affects 17 percent of all children and adolescents in America.
“The rate of childhood obesity is considered to be triple what it was a generation ago,” explains Dan Negroni, the chief executive officer and president of Fresh Healthy Vending. “Our mission is to be part of the solution in fighting childhood obesity, and this is just one more way that we are helping to do that. Now at least one lucky consumer will have their say on where a healthy vending machine should be placed.”
Here’s what some people are saying already:
“As a Doctor of Chiropractic, I have been promoting health and nutrition for over 25 years. We need to educate the public about Healthy Vending–there is an alternative to junk food that is just as convenient.” – Dr. James Cassillo
“I would love to see a healthy alternative offered in the elementary school to start our kids off on the right foot. Many thanks for offering such a wonderful opportunity, one Healthy Vending machine at a time. I believe small changes such as these make a huge difference!” – Courtney Crowell
“Our K-6 school has many ‘green’ minded folks, ut not enough healthy options for the served lunch program. with playground equipment plenty, now is the time to bring really healthy options to set the example to the community.” – Carl Zegan
“our family is a firm believer that yo can have yummy treats without all the artificial additives. We have seen a remarkable improvement in our child’s behavior since we eliminated these additives, and are now on a mission to spread the word to all parents about what these chemicals are doing to our children. Let’s get the ball rolling and get a healthier vending machine!” – Abby Egan
To enter to win a free Healthy Vending Machine for their favorite location, participants can log onto the site at FreshandHealthy.org and share their story about why their favorite local gym, recreation center or other location deserves the machine.
The deadline to enter is August 31, 2012. All entrants must include their full name, email, phone number, and the address where they would like to see the healthy vending machine placed.
Can vending machines take away market share from the quick-service segment? Not only do some experts think it’s possible, others wonder if it’s already happening.
Fresh Healthy Vending, Who Has Given Away Over $100,000, is on a Mission to Replace Junk Food Vending With Healthy Vending