The Top Ten Vending Machine Snacks

Washington Post featured a list from Automatic Merchandiser of the top 10 snacks, in dollar sales, from Vending Machines. Any of these surprise you or jump out as unusual?

1. Snickers

2. Doritos Big Grab

3. Peanut M & Ms

4. Cheetos

5. Cheez-It Original

6. Twix

7. Strawberry frosted Pop Tarts

8. Rice Krispies Treat

9. Lay’s Chips

10. Mrs. Freshley’s Jumbo Honey Bun

A few interesting observations from this list. First off, the Mrs. Freshley’s is probably the most
unknown entity on that list. I have always thought that breakfast options in vending machines are limited which might well account for the popularity of Pop Tarts and the Honey Bun’s.

Nothing else jumps out as me as particularly surprising, with one exception. Peanut M&M’s! Where are the regular M&M’s? They didn’t even crack the top ten. Do Peanut M&M’s really outsell regular M&M’s? Or is that just a vending machine phenomenon?

Caffè Culture London 2008

Caffè Culture (London Olympia 21-22nd May 2008) is a hot place to be – literally! It’s a busy place: products being launched, workshops being run, people networking, and the poor old demonstration chefs getting rather warm in their kitchens!

Visitors are being treated to a wealth of ideas and opportunities, not to mention the host of goodies just begging to be tried – just to make sure that they taste as good as they look!

A particular focus this year is on responsible packaging for the single-serve ‘to-go’ market. There are at least six packaging specialists showcasing innovative products alongside their traditional ranges.

Products on offer include: triple-walled cardboard pasta pots; bio-coated cups; wooden chopsticks from sustainable forests; and smart recycled bags made with inserts enabling customers to carry-out a meal and a drink securely.

The ‘take-out’ industry must respond to customer demands and start along the journey of embracing sustainable products. Meaningful schemes such as Save-a-Cup of which Mars Drinks was the founder member are specifically designed to encourage the habit of recycling in the work-place.

The scheme is responsible for recycling an amazing 325 cups per year. The UK has been slower to positively embrace and support the need for environmentally responsible innovations than the rest of Europe, however, if Caffè Culture is anything to go by, the tide is turning. A recent NOP/Scottish Power survey showed that 74% of respondents would buy greener goods because of a concern for future generations – so it’s about time too!

Flavia Drink Machine Recipes

Here are some cool recipes to try using you Flavia Drink Machine

Sublime Green Tea

Neutralizing free radicals just got tastier with FLAVIA’s Japanese Green Tea. This fragrant tea will pump up your antioxidants and give you muscle against aging. Prepare this healthy drink in your FUSION or SB100 in 30 seconds!

You will need:
1 Japanese Green Tea Filterpack (or FLAVIA’s Green Tea with Jasmine if you prefer)
Lime wedge and curl
Sugar or honey to taste
Glass of ice

To prepare with Fusion:
Place sugar or honey in your glass first Insert the Japanese Green Tea Filterpack and press the coffee/tea button to brew.
Squeeze the lime wedge into your glass Fill glass with ice Garnish with the lime curl

To prepare with SB100:
Place sugar or honey in your glass first Insert the Japanese Green Tea Filterpack and press the coffee/standard leaf tea button to brew.
Squeeze the lime wedge into your glass
Fill glass with ice Garnish with the lime curl

Carefree Commuter

You’ll drive worry free with this happy travel companion. Take the Espresso lane to your next destination and smile.

You will need:
1 Large travel mug
1 Creamy Topping Filterpack
1 Espresso Roast Filterpack
1 Choco Filterpack

To Prepare in FUSION(not suitable for SB100):
Place your large travel mug on to the cup stand.
Turn the volume control knob to the smallest dot.
Insert Creamy Topping Filterpack and press the Frothy 2-Pack button to brew.
Insert Espresso Roast Filterpack and press the Frothy 2-Pack button to brew.
Turn the volume control knob to the second to smallest dot.
Insert the Choco Filterpack and press the Choco button to brew.


Lemon Soother

This fun combination is just the right prescription for new healthy habits. Drink up and feel good!

You will need:
1 Lemon Calm Filterpack
Two teaspoons vanilla syrup (such as Torani’s Vanilla Syrup)

To prepare in Fusion:
Add the vanilla syrup to your cup.
Insert the Lemon Calm Filterpack and press the Coffee/Tea button to brew.

To prepare in SB100:
Add the vanilla syrup to your cup.
Insert the Lemon Calm Filterpack and press the Coffee/Standard Leaf Tea button to brew.


Maple Cappuccino

Tap into your maple desires with this warming northern trio!

You will need:
1 Creamy Topping Filterpack
1 House Blend Filterpack
Two tablespoons maple syrup

To prepare in FUSION:
Add maple syrup to your cup.
Insert the Creamy Topping Filterpack and press the Frothy 2-Pack button to brew.
Insert the House Blend Filterpack and press the Frothy 2-Pack button to brew.


Sweet Chocolate Sumatra

Indulge in your chocolate craving without guilt! In the office or at home, Sweet Chocolate Sumatra boosts your morale and your energy level too!

You will need:
1 Sumatra Filterpack
1 Choco Filterpack
2 teaspoons sugar or sugar substitute

To prepare in FUSION:
Add sugar to your cup.
Insert the Sumatra Filterpack and press the Coffee/Tea button to brew.
Turn the volume control knob to the second to smallest dot.
Insert the Choco Filterpack and press the Choco button to brew.

To prepare in SB100:
Add sugar to your large cup.
Insert the Choco Filterpack and press the Coffee/Standard Leaf Tea button to brew.
Insert Sumatra Filterpack and press the Espresso button to brew.

Vending machines cause frustration

Students say it is inconvenient that only some vending machines take Cane Express credit and none take dining dollars. "When I'm in my dorm and I'm thirsty or hungry I don't want to have to walk forever to get something," Mike Diaz, a sophomore, said.

Mel Tenen, assistant vice president for Dining and Vending Services, said Cane Express readers aren't on every machine because they are expensive.

"We strategically place them where there are a lot of students," Tenen said. "We place them where it makes the most sense to place them."

Tenen said the university does an annual analysis based on sales in order to determine the most frequently used vending machines so they can eventually add readers to them.

Besides a lack of vending machine card readers, students also complain of limited food choices and broken machines.

Damara Hawley, a sophomore, said that whenever she finds the machine with the food she likes, it either doesn't take a Cane Card or doesn't work.

"It's really annoying and frustrating, because even the ones that have the readers say, 'no Cane Cards,'" Hawley said. "I went to the vending machines by the Learning Center and none of them were working."

Hawley said it's "extremely inconvenient," adding that most students have a Cane Card at hand, but not every student carries cash. Currently there are no vending machines that accept dining dollars.

"It's unfair because most people have dining dollars and would use it for those machines," Alex Marmorato, a sophomore, said. "If the machines took dining dollars, students wouldn't have to walk all the way to the C-store to get something."

Tenen said the machines will never take dining dollars because they aren't part of the same program as vending services. He said dining dollars are intended to be used for food and dining services.

Are Vending Machines Deadlier than Sharks?

Vending machines kill, sharks don't, according to Reuters which quoted a LA lifeguard "more people are killed in the US each year by vending machines" which smacks of an urban legend but probably isn't.

I say "probably isn't" because statistics relating to vending machine deaths aren't as easy to come by as data on shark attack fatalities, so it's difficult to draw a direct comparison.

But if we look at 1995, for example, the most recent year for which I was able to find an accounting of deaths due to vending machine tipovers. Two people died as a result of being crushed by falling soda machines in the US as compared to zero shark-related deaths in the same 12 month period.

Moreover, according to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission there were 37 known vending machine fatalities between 1978 and 1995, for an average of 2.18 deaths per year. Over the past decade there were a total of six recorded shark attack fatalities in the U.S., for an average of .6 deaths per year.

Ergo, barring a drastic reduction in the frequency of vending machine accidents since 1995, vending machines are indeed more deadly than sharks by a factor of almost four!

Drink Machine Student Discount Offer

The people at FLAVIA (part of Mars Drinks) have a great special offer for students. Buy a FLAVIA FUSION drinks vending machine, normally £79.99 for just £29.99.

That's £50 off and there's FREE SHIPPING also!

Enjoy your FLAVIA FUSION coffee machine.

Make a better impression with the Flavia Fusion drinks vending machine. No fuss, no waste and, best of all for students, no cleaning. Just great tasting freshground coffee, real leaf tea and wellbeing infusions.

Instructions: Simply register as a new customer, add a FLAVIA FUSION drink machine to your basket and proceed to checkout.

Once you have entered your payment and delivery details, you can enter the promotional code: STU50PO to receive this incredible £50 discount. Please note this promo offer is for UK residents only.

If you can't get on to the internet, then call their Customer Services on 0800 051 6733 quoting promo code: STU50PO.

Fruit Machine Drink Machine

Booze and fruit machines don't go. Try making your fortune on the Las Vegas slots after a few pints if you want proof.

Yet I'll make an exception for the Fruit Machine Drink Dispenser, which as you may guess from the name, is a fruity-shaped booze-pouring device.

You pull the lever to pour a drink, although sadly you don't get a random cocktail based on the fruit that come up. Instead, you have to fill it with a beverage of your choice at the start. Still, for £34.99 it's a bargain - and cheap compared to a night in Caesar's Palace after a few bevvies.

Find further information here.

Drink Machine attacks women

Be careful when getting a drink from a drink machine. They can turn on you in an instance as you can see in this video.


Drink Machine Attacks Woman - Watch more free videos

Worlds Fastest Margarita Machine

This contraption looks like something that the Beverly Hillbillies would hitch to the back of their car, but trust me, it's way cooler - It claims to be the world's fastest margarita drink mixer.

According to the LiveJournal user who documented it, this contraption made by "Uncle Don" is made of "a small-block 400, a trailer, assorted parts and the ability to custom fabricate a 6-inch tall replica of a blender blade out of stainless steel."

The tasty treats are mixed in a 25-gallon stainless steel tank, and in 10 to 20 seconds, "Dirty Don's Margarita Machine" can turn six bags of ice and 18 bottles of ready-to-drink margarita mix into some yummy frozen drinks.

Personalized Home Vending Machine

Hearing the sound of a can falling from a vending machine makes me happy. Maybe it's because when I drop my change in, I'm usually salivating like one of Pavlov's dogs.

If you're the same way, you're going to be really psyched about Maytag's new SkyBox personal drinks vending machine. Perfect for your family room, SkyBox is smaller than the usual vending machine. You can put just about any kind of beverage you want in it so you can please everyone, whether their drink is Budweiser or Mello Yello.

Plus, it's guaranteed to wow your friends when they drop by for the big game.

Fill 'Er Up
The SkyBox is easy to use. It opens just like a refrigerator and holds up to 66 12-ounce cans or 33 12-ounce bottles. You can combine cans and bottles too.
Inside, you'll find four square, plastic bins, one for each drink selection. To load beverages, you slide cans or bottles into the bins from front to back, and to dispense them, you just press one of the four selection buttons on the front of the machine.

At the end of each bin is a rotor that drops your can or bottle into a chute after you select a drink. The beverage is then guided down the side of this chute, which, according to Fred Lowery, Maytag Product Director Strategic Initiative, has a special "anti-spew" feature. Finally, your drink is directed to a ramp where it slides to the dispensing area. Nice and easy.

Sensing Trouble
As with commercial vending machines, the SkyBox will let you know if there are any problems or if you're running low on drinks.

Each bin has one sensor on its back wall that will detect if there are less than six cans or three bottles for each selection. If you need to fill up, the light on the selection button of that specific drink will flash red. For jams, there are five sensors, one after the rotor on each bin, and one at the dispenser door, that will also trip a flashing warning light.

A child-safety switch on the SkyBox turns the unit off. A lock and key are also included in case you have any teenagers who may want to sneak a brew behind your back.

Go Team Go
The SkyBox can be purchased in Pitch Black and platinum finishes and although it comes with a generic set of polystyrene panels (for the front and sides of the machine), you can buy additional sets for $39 each. At press time, you could choose panels representing all NFL teams, top college teams and top NASCAR drivers. Lowery says that basketball and other leagues should be available in the future.

Maytag calls the selection buttons for the drinks "beverage cards" and each SkyBox comes with a set of 20 that are interchangeable.

The unit (without drinks) weighs in at 105 pounds and retails for $499. The optional stand with built-in storage shelf weighs 85 pounds and retails for $69.

So if you've been salivating for your very own vending machine, be sure to check out the SkyBox.

Otherwise, Flavia provide a very cool home drink machine.

Flavia Born Blonde and Sexy

There seems a pattern emerging that the name Flavia is associated with being 'Sexy'!
They do share their name with a very popular drink machine.

Ironically, Flavia is an Ancient Roman name meaning "blonde" from the Latin word "flavus", meaning "golden, blonde". It is a feminine form of the Roman clan name Flavius. The name is most commonly used in Italy, Romania, and in Spanish-speaking countries.

Take a look for yourself at some of the sexy 'blonde' babes who all share the Flavia name. Any ugly Flavia's out there, please let us know and comment below.

Flavia Alessandra


Flavia Slamn
Flavia De Oliveira

Flavia Viana

Flavia Palmiero


Almost as sexy as the Flavia Drink Machine!!!


Flavia has Italian origins and is from the old Roman family name Flavius, which is derived from the Latin flavus (yellow).

The vending machine that eats drink cans

A REVOLUTIONARY machine has been installed at a school to help increase recycling efforts and clean up the community. A reverse vending machine, which is the first of its kind, has been installed at Sawtry Community College, in Fen Lane.

The machine, which was launched in March, is also designed to cut the amount of litter in school playgrounds. Alan Stevens, associate principal of Sawtry Community College, said: "Until now the college's approach to recycling has been ad hoc.

"By using the reverse vending machine the college is planning to combine parish, district and county council initiatives and make recycling cost effective."

The machine has been installed so pupils can recycle items such as cans, crisp packets and plastic cups. Once pupils have put items in it, the machine automatically sorts aluminium from plastic and shreds or compacts the material.

The machine also gives out vouchers for pupils to collect – and those who collect the most will be able to trade them for prizes including games consoles and video games.

Mr Stevens said students at the college, which has 1,300 students aged between 11 and 18, have been excited about the project and the chance to win prizes.

He added: "The college puts great emphasis on its responsibility to manage litter and, where possible, ensures materials are recycled.

"This way the college plays its part in creating a cleaner and safer environment for the community. It also raises awareness of the benefits of recycling a wide range of products."

The machine will also help the school save money as it will not have to put as much rubbish in black bin bags.

Mr Stevens said before the machines were installed, the school was paying £140 a week to keep two skips. However, with the new machine the school now only needs one skip. The vending machine has also helped cut down on the amount of litter in the playground, which has helped Sawtry Community College save up to £20 a week.

This is what it had previously cost them for a site officer to pick up litter and empty bins around the college. Reverse vending machines are also set to be used in a range of places, such as hospitals and leisure centres, and be introduced across schools in Peterborough soon.

Vending Snacks

Say no more! This vending machine is going to dispense whether it likes it or not!

Cool Drink Machine

An nice example of a cool drink machine, slightly impractical but great for the larger (or lager) venue:



For a more suitable home or office drink machine then visit MyFlavia.com

The rise and rise of vending machines

Vending Machines are all around us, at the busy shopping mall, the local leisure centre, at work, the list goes on. However, the vending machine did not get popular overnight and history shows that there is more to them than meets the eye.

Firstly and amazingly, history dates vending machines back as early as 215 B.C where ancient Egyptians used a device that has been identified to dispense holy water at places of worships after depositing a coin. America introduced vending machines to the public in 1888 when the Adams Gum company sold their penny gum products using machines.

From its humble beginnings, the vending machine has rapidly grown into a multi-million pound business and the vending industry has no signs of letting up with 2005 predications of 40% increases in sales coming true.

Vending industry success can be is attributed to the combined use of technology and mechanisms in different vending equipment. The pioneering vending machine is undoubtedly the drinks machine with its ability to vend hot and cold drinks.

Japan is home to millions of people with limited space. They shop on foot or by bicycle, have low rates of vandalism and petty crime and a small and decreasing number of working-age people. These are the contributing factors to the fact that Japan has the highest number of vending machines per capita, with about one machine for every 23 people.

There seems to be no limit to what is sold by vending machines including rice, drinks, snacks, cigarettes, fried food, ipods, underwear, pornography, sexual lubricants, potted plants, the list goes on.

The first vending machine in Japan was made of wood and sold postage stamps and post cards. About 80 years ago, there were vending machines that sold sweets called "Glico". In 1967, the 100-yen coin vending machines were used for the first time and vending machine sales skyrocketed overnight, selling a vast variety of items everywhere.

Scheduled for introduction in 2008, a smart card called taspo will restrict sales of cigarettes from vending machines. An embedded integrated circuit will contain information about the age of the cardholder.

With consumers wanting quick and convenient access to competitively priced products, the vending industry has seen a great deal of growth over the last ten years. Vending offers new entrepreneurs a way to start businesses which can grow quickly.

Drinks, candy and food vending machines continue to be the most lucrative and stable in the market place. New innovations in service vending machines include internet kiosks and DVD vending. Cashless vending now allows consumers to use debit cards for added convenience. Vending is a multi-billion dollar industry, and growing.

Is Vending Right For Me?

Deciding on a vending machine can be a difficult one but time spent into researching the right one for you will be time well spent. No amount of signs, meetings or rotas can ever make the office kitchen perfect, or sometimes even just pleasant. When you get it right, vending machines remove arguments, hassle, disruption and even cost.

Choosing the right vending machine for you is an issue of how you feel about drink quality, efficiency and cost.

Want lowest cup costs?
You can have it, but drink quality won’t be great and it will need maintenance every few weeks.

Want super premium fresh ground coffee?
You can have it, but at the cost of efficiency, of ingredients and choice.

Want both fresh ground coffee and wide drinks choice?
You can have it, but reliability suffers and it’ll need more cleaning and maintenance.

If you want to lose the hassle and mess of a kitchen you need “Right machine, right drinks, right support and the right service.”

KLIX ticks all the boxes, and we do it in a unique way, because when you come to KLIX you are coming to the people who have designed and built the machines, who create and supply the drinks and who offer a nationwide support service. No one else can claim the same and that’s a fact.

Call: 0800 0323 444 or contact KLIX today.


Small Company: 30 - 50 personnel
Typically looking to vending as an answer to kitchen mess and to health and safety concerns. Many have analysed the full savings vending offered over 'kettle and cup' and discovered that they can actually save money via vending. Almost all want to manage drinks themselves - avoiding the need to schedule and pay for outside support - and are driven by relieving the burden / distraction for administrators.

"A high quality, efficient solution we can manage ourselves"

Medium Company: 50 - 250 personnel
Mid-sized companies are generally being driven by two factors. Either they face the same issues identified by their smaller counterparts or their existing vending machine is unsatisfactory in terms of drinks quality and/or reliability. In the latter case it's all about finding the optimum balance of quality drinks and reliable, low maintenance machines.

"Quality our people will appreciate, delivered with uncompromising reliability"

Enterprise: 250+ personnel
The larger site typically employs a range of drinks solutions, combining cafeteria/caterer based solutions with 'local' vending machines throughout the site. The driver here is to achieve a quality level that is acceptable to a discerning employee base but that still offers the most efficient, low maintenance operation.

"Diverse drinks to suit a diverse workforce balanced with speed and ease of maintenance"

What are your Criteria?

Work Environment Benefits

• Eliminate mess
• Reduce complaints
• Health & safety

Staff Benefits

• Quality brands
• Wide choice
• Affordable drinks
• Reliability / consistency
• Fun

Financial Benefits

• Save time
• Improve efficiency
• Can replace water coolers

Operational Efficiency

• Quick to clean
• Quick restocking
• Rapid response service
• Total reliability

Useful Vending Links:

NAMA - Serving the vending, coffee service and food Service management industries

EVA - European Vending Association

AVA - Automatic Vending Association

EVPA - European Vending Press Association

Japanese machine determines skin age

If all the regular ways to give up smoking fail, then a new Japanese machine that counts wrinkles and determines skin age could make a pretty good deterrent.

A Japanese company is developing a vending machine that counts wrinkles and skin sagging to check a smoker's age.

The face recognition technology is actually aimed at stopping anyone under the legal age of 20 from buying cigarettes. However it will also give smokers a fright if their predicted age is older than it actually is.

From July onwards in Japan, vending machine companies could be prosecuted if cigarettes are sold to anyone under the legal age.

People buying cigarettes who fail a digital camera 'age test' must show the machine an ID card to determine if they are legally allowed to smoke.

The system compares facial features including bone structure, sags and crow's feet against a record of 100,000 people.

A spokesman for the new technology, Hajime Yamamoto told Reuters: 'With face recognition, so long as you've got some change and you are an adult, you can buy cigarettes like before.'

He added: 'The problem of minors borrowing identification cards to purchase cigarettes could be avoided as well.'

Japan has 570,000 tobacco vending machines and although underage smoking is on the decline, a 2004 survey showed 14% of boys and 4% of girls between 17 and 18 smoke everyday.

Cigarette vending machine recognizes faces

Now why would a cigarette vending machine need to recognize faces? Apparently, this "Child Check System" introduced by Japanese company Fujitaka uses facial recognition to determine if the person buying cigarettes is over the legal age limit, which is currently set at 20 in Japan. A camera embedded in the vending machine takes a picture, compares it with its database of 100,000 faces. It even checks for lines and skin tones to ascertain a person's age.

We have it that the Fujitaka Child Check System will be installed in about half a million vending machines in Japan from July this year.

Whether this system actually works in stopping underaged consumers from smoking is still too early to tell. After all, there are lots of people who look younger than their actual age, and some who appear more mature than they are. Besides, young people can still easily buy cigarettes from convenience stores. So what's next? A vending machine that determines if you are too fat to consume sugared drinks? Hey, you never know.

Vending Machines Truths

Vending machines are an excellent way to supplement your income or start your own home-based business. There are several factors that you must think about when you get into the business of vending machines like location, what you are selling, maintenance and more.

When you are thinking about getting into vending machines you need to think about where you are going to place them. An excellent idea is to talk to new businesses and see if you can place a machine at their location. Most businesses are open to have vending machines in their place of work for the employees to have a snack. In addition, you are surely going to sell well if you can get your machines in a big business.

Other locations that you might think about putting your vending machines are public places that include bowling alleys, schools and recreation centres. The most important thing that you need to think about when you are considering the locations of your vending machines is the safety of your machines. You do not want to place your machines in a place where kids can break them, steal the contents or the money from the machine.

If you decide to have a soda machine you might want to talk to the people who are allowing you to place your vending machine on their premises about what drinks they prefer. This way, you know that you are going to sell your product. When you let them choose what drinks to fill the machine with, then they will buy it from you. If you decide to have a snack vending machine filled with candy and chips it is a good idea to work it out with the company also. However, it is okay that you do not because you can keep track of what you are stocking in your machine to see what is selling and what is not. This way, you know what types of things to stock in the machine for snacks and what snacks are not selling.

If you decide to go into the vending machine business you have to stay on top of it. You need to be sure the machines are constantly stocked with enough coin money so people can get change. You also have to ensure that it is working properly. If the dollar insert is broken, then you probably wont be selling very much. It is a good idea to pay a visit to your machines once a week, clean out your money and restock the machines with everything they need. If you do not keep the machine stocked and/or it is constantly out of order, then chances are good that the company will ask you to remove the vending machine from their location.

Vending machines can make you a lot of money. It is important to work with the companies and find out what they want. You also have to be sure that you are maintaining the machines and keeping them constantly stocked with items.

Bike Vending Machine ingenious or stupid

This Bike Vending Machine is an ingenious design meant to facilitate bike rentals in urban environments. Customers could pay a small fee to get a bike from one of the machines and then they'd be able to ride it where they pleased. They could then return it to another bike machine across town, allowing for easy one-way trips.

The bikes would be loaded up with RFID tags to keep track of them, preventing people from running off with their freshly freed bike. It sounds like a great idea to me. I wish there was an easy way to bike around New York City without having to ride my own bike in from Brooklyn.

This is the urban bicycle-rental stand, which won an award at this year's Spark Design & Architecture Awards.

It's designed to allow one-way journeys, with drop off and pick-up points in various locations around a city. Each bike would be fitted with an RFID chip to track and log journeys, and customers would pay a small charge to rent a bike.

It was designed by Dutch agency, Springtime, who have worked for Nike, Coca Cola and Toyota. Several cities have implemented bike rental or free-bike schemes, and this system, excluding initial investment, could help to keep costs down.

Of course, there are problems with it, such as the fact that you are relying on the previous renter to return the bike in good condition. Presumably there is no way for the machine to know if the bike it is handing out has a flat tire or other problem.

Vending in Japan

Japan have some of the best and worst vending machines in the world, check some of these out:

Umbrella Vending Machine
Pizza Vending Machine
Popcorn Vending Machine
Porn Vending Machine
Rice Vending Machine

Flight Insurance Vending Machine
Flowers Vending Machine
Hot Snacks Vending Machine
Horse Racing Betting Vending Machine
Name Card Vending Machine
Cigarettes Vending Machine
Coca Cola Vending Machine
More Japan vending mad machines

Pizza Vending Machine

You can purchase all sorts of things from vending machines these days, from soda and candy to iPods and cell phones. But freshly made pizza? That just doesn't seem to make any sense. How can you make pizza in a vending machine? Has the whole world gone mad?!

Well, guess what? It's coming. Wonderpizza vending machines provide you with a 9-inch pizza in 2 minutes without you having to worry about humans touching it at any point in the process. That is unless the secret of the Wonderpizza machines is that they have very small people inside making pizzas very quickly. In which case I would feel pretty bad about buying pizzas from them!

IPOD Vending

What next can we think of to use in vending machines...ooooh I know, why not an IPOD vending machine:

Strange Vending Machines

For most Americans, vending machines are a convenient way to get their afternoon soda fix or to cure the munchies with a bag of Flaming Hot Cheetos. In other countries, vending machines are host to the bizarre, the wacky, and sometimes, the perverted. We’ve come a long way from soda. Check out these not-so-ordinary vending machines from around the world.

Underwear Vending Machine
The Japanese have a love affair with vending machines. From beer to cigarettes, to rice and ramen, probably the weirdest (and the nastiest) machines are those that sell dirty schoolgirl panties. Soiled underwear from pre-pubescent girls … I guess there’s a niche for every perv.

Lubrication Vending Machine
In London, bars, night clubs, hair salons, and health clubs have started to sell sex toys from vending machines, including your run of the mill vibrators and, you know, your everyday anal beads and cock rings. Those crazy Brits and their anal beads.

Lobster Vending Machine
Another crazy Japanese idea—a lobster vending machine. Yes, lobster—live lobster, in fact. Crawling, squirmy, and undeniably delicious lobster. The catch? It’s one of those grabby hand vending machine games you used to play as a kid. What I want to know is where do you put the live lobster after you win? Are there buckets with water available for carrying? How often do you change the lobsters and who’s in charge of the lobster machine? I’d like to know so I can get my catch on.
Cannabis Vending
A walk down any San Francisco street and the heady smell of freshly rolled joints and pot smoke is easily recognized. Maybe that’s because in California, medical marijuana is legal and there are a ton of hidden (and not so hidden) pot shops where those with medical marijuana prescriptions can purchase their ganja of choice. These plain-looking vending machines are housed in rooms outside the shops, making it easy for potheads to access their herb 24/7, granted they have a proper prescription. Talk about reefer madness.

Hot Food Vending Machine
Oy vey! Can’t find a nosh to keep you kosher on the go? Here’s your solution—a kosher vending machine. Maybe Americans are starting to take a hint from the Japanese, though maybe we’re not quite as extreme yet as their soiled panties. At least you can get your fill of hot nosh, all day, every day.

Health on Drinks Agenda

Drinks vending in the work environment has come a long way since the early days of delivering tea and coffee, and continues to eliminate the need for a kettle or cup. New technology and innovations, increased efficiency and reliability of machines, consumer expectations and demand have fuelled the growth of the drinks vending market over the past few years and widely extended the choice and variety of drinks options available.

According to the Automatic Vending Association (AVA), there are now 518,589 refreshment vending machines in use in the UK with consumer spend totalling £1.5 billion every year through vending machines. With eight million cups of coffee and two million cups of tea vended every day in the UK, these fundamental drinks continue to be the strongest sellers in the industry.

Consumers are, however, becoming increasingly used to the bespoke, varied and customised drinks offering from the likes of Starbucks and Costa, and are therefore seeking the same ‘intelligent drinking’ from vending machines in their work environment. Consumers recognise that they have many options and want different drinks for different occasions, something that is putting pressure on vending operators to come up with innovative new products.

Many vending companies, KLIX included, are experiencing growth in speciality drinks and variations on the traditional tea and coffee staples such as cappuccino and café latte, which offer more of a ‘treat’ factor for consumers.

But, much of the growth in terms of drinks vending choices falls under the health and wellbeing category. Health-conscious consumers are becoming increasingly aware of and responsive to what they put into their bodies, partly fuelled by a greater knowledge and understanding of health risks, changes in eating and drinking habits, and the rise of the ‘detox’ trend.

From decaf variations of tea and coffee to wellbeing versions such as green tea and peppermint tea, consumers are opting for drinks that have a functional benefit - for example, KLIX has just launched a Cranberry juice drink comprised of 10% real fruit content and packed with antioxidants and vitamin C.

These ‘healthy’ drinks are influencing the product development in drinks vending and have all been well received into the market with vending companies experiencing particular sales growth from tapping into the health and premiumisation trends. Schools in particular are adopting healthier drinks options in pupil vending machines as a response to the negative health impacts and awareness of fizzy, high sugar drinks, which is mirroring the mainstream consumer trends.

Most vending companies are also well aware of the rising popularity of bottled water - the KLIX Outlook vending systems now all use Brita filtered water which responds to this particular consumer demand and contributes towards providing a great quality drink. But vending operators also need to be aware that other noncarbonated drinks and ‘new age’ beverages are creating growth opportunities as well, including sports and energy drinks.

A further trend and common consumer preference is the ability to choose drinks from well known brands such as Nescafe or PG Tips. These trusted and popular brands are providing consumers with familiarity and the same quality they would expect to receive as if they’d made the drink themselves. A recent experiment reinforces this preference - two beverage machines were placed side by side in the same office environment, one with PG Tips branded tea and one with an unbranded alternative tea. Over a three week period, the number of PG Tips cups consumed was almost double that of the non-branded tea.

Another area of growth is in the fairtrade and sustainable drinks products in vending machines. KLIX currently offer Percol fairtrade coffee, and will be launching a Fairtrade tea in 2007, whilst its sister brand FLAVIA has a sustainable coffee and tea where they are working directly with farmers at origin to improve their working conditions and facilities. Again, consumers are wising up to these type of issues and demanding to know more about how and where the products they consume are produced. The added feel good factor of selecting a fairtrade option is an increasingly strong incentive for consumers and many vending operators are responding to this through their product development and corporate social responsibility programmes.

So what are consumers looking for from their drinks vending machines? And what are the major criteria for a positive drinks experience? Through the industry research and our own customer intelligence, quality and choice continually appear as the two principle criteria for consumers when rating the quality of drinks vending. From a wide range of drinks choices to refined quality and flavour, consumer standards and expectations are rising. An efficient and reliable machine with a hassle-free, convenient operation are also key to a positive drinks experience.

In terms of what the next few years and the future holds, it is predicted that coffee and tea will remain strong and continue to be key drinks choice categories. Areas of growth ahead will be in the holistic health and more premium drinks choices as consumers become more demanding and their tastes and choices more specific. Speciality drinks will also continue to increase in popularity as consumers demand a more indulgence drinks experience, whilst further trends will develop around individualisation and convenience. Technology will also advance the market over the coming years and generate quality improvements and a subsequently wider choice of drinks.