When I first started in our office building, salad was always the first thing to go from the food vending machine. I remember people would go into the breakroom first thing in the morning and buy up their salad for lunch. And these were pretty standard salads -- a clear round plastic package stuffed with iceberg lettuce, carrot shavings, ham and half a hard boiled egg. There was probably a dressing packet in there too, but I never saw it. The salads were always gone from the food vending machine by lunch. People would buy them early, put their name on them and then place them in the breakroom refrigerator. Before I knew anything about vending, I thought this was comical and strange. Now I realize it was a missed opportunity, and one that would be even stronger in a micro market which allows for people to customize their salads.
Early sell-outs
Vending food has always been tough to manage. The vending operator who used to provide service to our office (who has since retired) had a commissary that made all the items sold in the food vending machine. It was good food, and people would buy it regularly. The machine did not have telemetry however, and I don't believe the operator ever knew just how popular his salads were, or he would have put many more in the machine. The salads would sell out before 10am most days. At noon, people who wanted a salad, would either choose something else or visit one of the very few other eating choices available in town at that time.
The next day, I'm sure it looked like all the salads and quite a few other items were gone, a good thing as it eliminated spoilage. The operator refilled the machine, but never thought to add more salads. From this side of the business, I would guess that technology and/or experimentation with different offerings would have revealed this opportunity to the operator, who no doubt lost sales by not having more salads.
Salads in the micro market
Salads are one of the most popular food items in a micro market. Sometimes that iceberg salad I mentioned earlier sells, but more often, micro market operators expand the range of ingredients to appeal to a wide range of consumes who want bold flavors and natural ingredients. In fact, many micro market operators have over a dozen varieties of salad. One of the most surprising facts many of them discovered when looking at sales data about salads was that people like more dressing.
One operator reported he experienced three times the dressing sales in micro markets, where the salads are dressing free, compared to vending salads which include one packet. Separate dressings allow employees to really personalize their salads, which is something today's consumer prefers. Some operators report as many as eight different dressing offerings, since they have a fairly long shelf life. It makes the employee feel like the micro market is more like a dining experience.
And of course, how fast the salads sell out and which kinds, is easily pulled by the micro market reporting system, showing operators where they have an opportunity to expand sales of this trendy fresh food item.
Managing salad, which spoils fairly quickly and is sensitive to very cold (or very hot) temperatures while transporting, is admittedly challenging. It takes careful planning and sales analysis to ensure its profitability, but over 70 percent of Americans eat bagged salads at home, and it fits into most of today's latest consumer trends (fresh, natural, gluten-free, vegetarian, etc.). It's worth a second look in food vending machines, and most especially in micro markets.
