It seems like everywhere we look, someone else is embracing healthy vending machines as a way to help people make better nutritional choices. The latest on the list of converts is the Shropshire library system. Three Shropshire libraries recently replaced their traditional vending machines with new machines featuring healthier choices.
According to local news reports, library visitors in Shrewsbury, Ludlow, and Oswestry now have an opportunity to select "healthy snacks and drinks made with 100 per cent natural ingredients". Shropshire Council's Help2Change team came up with the idea as part of the Food4Health initiative.
According to team member Kevin Lewis, the general public continues to struggle to make wise nutritional choices in an environment that makes it too easy to choose crisps, fizzy drinks, and chocolates. He and the team are firmly behind the idea of changing the environment by moving to healthy vending machines.
Lewis says that if the library initiative works well, the Council may also look at installing healthy vending machines in local leisure centres, hospitals, and even schools. Wouldn't that be something? We are certainly not against the freedom to choose whatever snacks a person wants, but we also think it would be wonderful to see healthy vending machines side-by-side with traditional vending.
A Self-Sustaining Venture
Despite the overall positive tone of the news out of Shropshire, Lewis did say something we thought was curious. He mentioned the possibility that the new healthy vending programme could eventually become self-financing. Why do we find that curious? Because we are in the nutritional vending business. We already know it is a self-sustaining venture because our clients are making money doing it.
We cannot speak for the public sector with any authority, but we can tell you that our private sector clients do very well with healthy vending machines. They give us a good location to place the machines and we do all the rest. The machines not only generate enough revenue to cover the cost of the products, but they also generate a healthy profit for both us and our clients.
There's no doubt in our minds that Shropshire's healthy vending machines can pay for themselves, and then some. There is no reason the machines shouldn't generate as much income as those they replaced. They will probably generate more. But even if not, just the fact that library patrons now have healthier choices makes the investment worth it.
You Can Do It Too
So now Shropshire is on board with healthy vending machines – at least at three of its libraries. If they can do it, you can do it too. We invite you to take the following challenge: replace your traditional vending machines with our healthier alternatives for three months and see how they do. If you don't want to completely remove your existing machines, then place ours side-by-side. We welcome the competition. And in the end, you might find yourself surprised by just how well healthy vending does.
Sources:
Border Counties Advertiser – http://www.bordercountiesadvertizer.co.uk/news/16383048.healthy-eating-initiative-sees-new-vending-machines-launched-at-shropshire-libraries/
