It is time for another one of those blog posts highlighting the crazy things people put in vending machines. This time we're off to the US state of Ohio and a pilot programme run by the Ohio Pork Council (OPC). Suffice to say that the vending machines that were part of the now expired programme were not offering sports nutrition products.
The Register reported in early December 2018 that the OPC was running a pilot programme featuring vending machines offering customers bacon. Was the bacon cooked? It was. OPC director of communications Emily Bir told The Register that consumers could spend $1 to get one serving of "shelf ready, ready-to-eat bacon."
So what was the point of the two-week pilot? Bir said it was to give back to the community, whatever that means. It seems more likely that the OPC and its partners were trying to set the stage for a nationwide effort to promote pork.
Whose Bacon Is Better?
The Register also explained that the brief pilot programme sparked an interesting debate over who had the better bacon. The debate was started by Bir's comments suggesting UK pork producers could run a similar pilot here. That led to questions of whether UK bacon is better than its US counterpart.
We believe there is a more important question to ask: would bacon vending machines even be a thing here? Who knows. On the one hand, we do have a penchant for eating unhealthy foods dispensed by impersonal machines willing to take our money. On the other hand, UK consumers are making a concerted effort to eat better.
It Will Sell In a Vending Machine
All frivolity aside, the point of this post is the same as all of the other crazy vending machine posts we publish: to illustrate that you can sell just about anything in a vending machine. All it takes is the right product placed in front of the right audience. That's how we make sports nutrition products work in a vending environment.
Our sport nutrition vending machines are perfect for the local gym and leisure centre. Patrons of those kinds of facilities are already in a healthy frame of mind by the time they finish their workouts. And guess what? They are hungry too. It is a perfect combination for selling sports nutrition products to people ready to eat.
Our machines are also ideal for hospitals. Remember now, the NHS is on a crusade to get rid of unhealthy vending options entirely. Replace those unhealthy foods with things like protein bars and healthy energy drinks and you're in business.
You can sell anything in a vending machine if you do it right. So what about your business? Are you ready to learn more about sports nutrition products and the vending opportunities they present? If so, give us a call. We would be more than happy to show you how one of our vending solutions can work on your site.
Sources:
The Register – https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/12/06/bacon_vending_machine/
