Vending Machines of Future on Display at Anaheim Center
The vending machines of the future were presented to the world Friday at the Anaheim Convention Center. And for those who don’t like to fumble with coins when buying drinks, chips and chewing gum, the year 1995 truly will be an exciting one.
By then, most vending machines will be “cashless” and operated with credit and debit cards, industry officials said Friday at the opening of the National Automatic Merchandisers Assn.’s Western Convention and Exhibition,
About 150 vendors are displaying the latest in vending hardware and products at the exhibit, which closes at noon today. It was expected to draw about 3,000 visitors.
An increasing variety of foods, drinks and other items will be available to consumers through machines in coming years, industry officials said. Drawing attention at the exhibit were machines that will rent movie cassettes, cook and deliver a cup of French fries and supply a microwave-ready pizza.
Variety for Discerning Snackers
And if the exhibitions at the show are any guide, the range of food items available by machine will continue to expand. Candies, cookies, popcorn, pastries, juices, vitamins and granola bars in enough variety for the most discerning snacker will be available via machines.
In fact, the exhibit seems not so much a display of technology as a celebration of vending food. Exhibit counters were piled high with food items suitable for vending machine use and dozens of microwave ovens kept samples full of burritos, pastries and other fare piping hot.
“Try this,” ordered an operator of a vending machine supplying French fries. Holding a potato spear up for close inspection, the operator pronounced the recently cooked spud to be grease-free. Then he offered a visitor a paper towel to wipe the grease off his fingers.
“Americans are the biggest snackers (in the world),” said Mike Pollock, general manager of Cleveland Sales Corp. in Orange, a supplier of servicing equipment for vending machines. Pollock, like the rest of the exhibitors, said he expects the industry to be just fine in coming years.
Pollock and others have reason to be upbeat. Association officials say the industry grew from $8.8 billion in 1974 to $16.6 billion in 1984. Figures for last year are not yet available.
Ready to Meet Challenge
“The U.S. is the hotbed of vending,” said Walter Reed, a spokesman for the association.
But the vending industry will find toughening competition in coming years from convenience stores and fast-food restaurants, according to a report on the industry completed by the Hudson Institute, an Indianapolis-based research concern.
Vending executives, however, say they can meet and beat the challenge.
“The vending industry will have to go upscale and and offer higher quality foods,” said Bill Walsh, president of Continental Vending Inc. in Orange and vice chairman of NAMA.
Walsh and other vending executives say the machines already offer better values than fast-food outlets but admit the industry is facing encroachment from fast-food operators who are experimenting with mobile operations and small outlets within a hospital or other institution--the traditional turf of the vending machine.
