Vending machines have always been a reliable way to meet the needs of consumers while are on-the-go.
However, some grocers are looking beyond simply stocking soft drinks, crisps and chocolate and are using such machines to give shoppers something new and convenient. Grocery Gazette takes a look at how supermarket giants are giving vending machines a new lease of life.
Iceland
Iceland trialed a new frozen vending machine with Myprotein earlier this year, with the first introduced at the Fitness First gym in Wigan in May.
Each machine is stocked with 10 different meals, and is designed with gym-goers in mind as each meal has 20-30g of protein or more.
From £5.00 – £5.50 per meal, they offered options such as pulled pork mac and cheese, chicken tikka, katsu chicken and beef lasagne, among others.
After a successful trial, the frozen goods retailer and sports nutrition brand is now rolling out more machines in other gyms nationwide.
Cook
Cook is rolling out frozen meal vending machines across the UK and is on track to have 15 by Christmas.
The fully automated frozen ready-meals vending machines produced by Mother, are being rolled out in offices, residential schemes and student accommodation.
The frozen food specialist has ambitions to move the machines into hospitals, travel hubs and government buildings.
All vending machine items will be sold as ‘complete meals’ that are suitable for microwaving, with vegetarian and low-calorie options, starting from £4.75.
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Aldi
Aldi launched its robotic pizza vending machine called a “Pizzabot” last year, which serves up restaurant-style pizza in under two minutes.
However, the machine was only available for a limited-time at one store in North Sydney, Australia, and has not been launched in the UK.
The Pizzabot was designed in collaboration with Austrailian firm Placer Robotics. It has the capacity to cook 450 pizzas per day, or about 17 pizzas per hour and features a glass exterior so customers can see the food being cooked and packaged.
Smoothie-making vending machines
Alberts Smoothie Stations are AI-powered vending machines that create personalised smoothies.
The machines are stocked with a range of fresh fruit and vegetables and customers can either opt for one of the pre-set recipes or create their own via Alberts’ app.
The smoothie stations were trialled by Carrefour in Belgium and Alberts has plans to expand in schools, universities, and company canteens.
Grocery giants introduce reverse vending machines
Many of the UK’s biggest supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Iceland have launched reverse vending machines in the UK as part of rollout of a deposit return scheme (DRS) for plastic bottles.
For Tesco, the scheme was initially rolled out in stores in Borehamwood, Manchester and Swansea, but now has operational DRS machines around the UK in select stores. The retailer continues to support the development of DRS, including in Ireland where DRS will be going live soon.
Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s launched its reverse vending machine recycling trial at its Lincoln Superstore in 2019, which allowed customers to return plastic bottles of any size up to 3 litres and drinks cans bought from Sainsbury’s in exchange for 5p coupons towards their shop.
