Good Article. The popularity on beverages are shifting from sodas to other premium drinks. Karma Wellness Water fits in that category and is at the very beginning of specialty healthy beverages.
How To Set The Right Price For Your Snack/Drink Vending Machine
There are so many different varieties of products to vend out of a vending machine. And with a great vending machine from Piranha, you can really amp up the variety in your unit! Once you go to your discount store to get your products, how do you set the proper price to make a profit AND keep prices reasonable?
Take your items and find out the individual cost. Average wholesale cost for snack items can range from $0.15-$0.75 and drink items can range from $0.25-$1.00. Basically, you want to take the price you pay for your item, and multiply by 2. Usually, that equates to a fair price to operate your business and provide your services for that location. There’s really not any formula or exact equation to set your prices. You can adjust them however you like. But this would be the general rule.
You can also make things simple by grouping similar items and setting prices according to type of item. For example, all chips $0.75, all candy bars $0.95, all can sodas $0.75, etc. There’s always exceptions for specialty items that will need to be adjusted. Healthy food items tend to cost more to purchase; therefore those items need to have higher prices to compensate.
Turn Every Vending Machine “Healthy”
A lot of vending machine operators are trying to tap into potential customers that are “health conscious”. Some vending sales companies even try to use that healthy niche to brand certain vending machines or packages. The numbers for health conscious consumers are rising every day and health food vending products are definitely something that should be integrated to any vendor or anyone who own and operate a vending machine.
The truth is, ANY vending machine can be made “Healthy”. Take any vending machine, like the ones offered by Piranha, and fill it with health conscious snacks and drinks. Del Monte has a line of pre-packaged products that are specific for this purpose. Price them accordingly to the costs that you purchased them for. That’s it! Now you are ready to compete at any business location that require healthy items in their facility!
Still, the best way to tap into the healthy market is to place a mixture of healthy, and regular items in your vending machine. Healthy items like fruits/yogurts/milk tend to have a very short shelf-life and are more perishable then conventional items like chips/candy/soda. Offering the variety of all different items will not only cut down operating costs from spoilage, it will also please any consumer who is looking for any type of snack.
As a vendor, your job is to offer the consumer what you think they would want. And what best way to do that then to put everything out there?!
New Look From PepsiCo
PepsiCo has unveiled a new look for it’s popular Diet Pepsi in a skinny can look. The taller, slimmer can, which the company says celebrates “beautiful, confident, women,” is now available nationwide. The zero-calorie soda will continue to be offered in its traditional shorter can. Both formats contain the same portion which is 12-fl oz.
All of the brand new vending machines offered by Piranha will be capable dispensing this new can from PepsiCo. Take a look at the combo vending machine. This Vendor will be able to provide a variety of different drinks that have different shapes and sizes, including the new 12-fl oz. skinny Diet Pepsi can drink. If you have an older version of a vending machine, give us a call and we can help determine whether your equipment is compatible with this new product.
Springtime “Springs Up” Drink Sales
Spring is right around the corner. Plants are coming alive and people are coming out of winter’s deep chill. It’s the perfect time for Vendors to rev up drink sales! Warmer, sunnier days definitely make people want to drink more. Vendors should start looking at the types of drinks that are offered in their vending machines and make some changes to ensure more sales in the coming warmer months. Here are a few tips to entice more drink sales…
Change up your drink selections. Besides the few absolute must-have items in your drink selection (most places have to have Coke/Pepsi etc) take everything else out of your machine. Go around the business and ask for suggestions of new drink items they would like to see in the vending machine. Not only will you build a better relationship with your business location by doing this, you will also show them that you care about their needs and that you are trying to customize the selections to fit their requests. Replace with fresh selections of ice teas, energy drinks, juices, lemon/lime sodas, coffee drinks. If the business location had apple juice as a selection all winter, suggest and replace it with a different kind of juice like grape or orange to keep your customer interested. If there was already a coffee drink selection, go for a different flavor and mix it up with variety for your customer. They will feel like they just got a brand new vending machine with all new choices inside. Before you leave your vendor, make sure you also give it a “spring cleaning” by wiping it down inside and out.
That’s it! Your vending machine is ready to receive all the extra sales. By doing all this, you will ensure higher sales and will be totally ready for the upcoming warmer months.