Healthy Vending at Work

Vending machines are popular in offices and workplaces because people want and need convenient, affordable access to quality food during the day. And if your business doesn’t have a full-service cafeteria, an office vending machine can be a great option for employees or customers to grab a snack, meal replacement or even fresh foods without leaving your office. Here are some tips on getting a vending machine for your office.

Benefits of a Healthy Vending Machine at Work

There are numerous benefits of a vending machine at your office or workplace, including:

- Employee satisfaction:
  A hungry or worse – a hangry employee is not a productive employee. Vending machines at work provide employees with instant access to snacks, exactly when they need them.

- Productivity:
  If your employees are constantly running to the coffee shop or store down the street, that’s precious time spent away from work, and it adds up quickly. Placing a vending machine in your office can keep employees at their desks for longer every day.
- Healthy options:
  We tend to think of vending machines as dispensing candy bars, chips and sodas. While it’s fine to offer these to your employees, there is no reason why you can’t stock a machine with healthier options. Employees often struggle to balance everyday responsibilities and maintain a healthy diet, often opting for quick and easy grab–and–go food. Employees appreciate that the company is promoting a healthy workplace and that nutritious food is available throughout the day. Better still, you could opt for a hybrid vending machine that stocks healthy snacks as well as chocolate and chips, ensuring you’re catering to all staff tastes and cravings.
- Customer convenience:
  If you have customers coming in and out of your workplace, a vending machine can be a great option. Many of these people will be hungry throughout the day and providing fast access to a snack can help you score big points in customer satisfaction.
- Customer experience:
  Vending machines in the workplace can also provide a better experience for your customers, especially if they have to wait for long periods of time, like at a car dealership or a shop, for example.
- Cost-effectiveness:
  For employees on a budget, vending machines are a cost-effective approach to eating during the day since they’ll be able to save money on the cost of items at a store.

- Low overhead:
  Vending machines are also cost-effective for the business. One of the main attractions of a vending machine is how low maintenance they are, which in turn lowers overhead. Unlike an in-house cafeteria, there are no staff requirements, and a machine will happily work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
- Simple management:
  Vending machines in your office are quite easy to manage. When you work with a good vending machine company, they can handle the restocking and the maintenance, so you rarely ever have to think about the machines, except to collect the income.
- Save space:
  Vending machines can be large, but they are actually designed to save space. You don’t have to worry about renting out an area to prepare and serve food, and vending machines pack a lot of options for the amount of space that they take up.

If you are thinking about placing a vending machine in your workplace, it’s worth exploring your local options, so your business can reap the benefits.

Choosing the Right Vending Machine for the Office

Finding the right vending machine for your office can be overwhelming. You have a variety of options when it comes to choosing a vending machine company to work with, but there are some important factors to consider when partnering with a vending company:

- Choose a reputable company:
  As with any buying decision, choosing the right vending machine company to stock your workplace means looking for a company with a good reputation. Check out their reviews and business history before entering into an agreement.
- Local ownership:
  You want to work with local owners who can work closely with you to ensure that your workplace vending machines are clean, stocked and well-maintained.
- Machines should accept a variety of payment options:
  In today’s digital world, cashless payment options are an absolute must. You want your employees and customers to be able to access the office vending machine when they need it, so card readers, chip scanners, virtual payment options and even company-issued prepaid pins should be part of the machine’s technology.

- You should be able to make your own stock choices:
  The needs of your employees are unique. You may want a mix of stack items and meal replacement items, or you may even want fresh foods. Work with a company that allows you to make your own stock choices.
- Remote monitoring:
  You have enough going on every day. Worrying about keeping your office vending machine stocked shouldn’t be one of them. Choose a company with remote monitoring, as they will be alerted early on when it’s time to restock items to your employees and customers never run out.

Choosing the right vending machine partner for your business can make all the difference when it comes to employees utilizing those machines at break and mealtimes. Make sure to conduct thorough research before committing to a vending partnership.

How Much Do Vending Machines Cost

In some cases, vending machines can be a bit of a cost outlay for a business, but there are many ways to reduce or even eliminate those costs.

You might consider leasing a vending machine for your office, which can cost anywhere from $50 per month to $200 per month per machine. Leases can run anywhere from one year to five years or more. Some vending machine leasing companies also require a down payment or a security deposit. And some may offer incentives or deals like no payments for 90 days or free/discounted inventory delivery. Additionally, you’ll want to figure in the cost of your inventory when calculating the cost of leasing a vending machine for your office. It can be difficult to estimate the total cost of products because it depends entirely on what kind of products you choose and how often the machines are used.

You may also consider purchasing a vending machine for your office. With this option, you have more control of the machine and its operation, but there are significant costs associated with purchasing. You can get an older vending machine for around $1,000 on the secondary market, or you can purchase a new one, but those costs can be as high as $6,000-$10,000 per machine. With this option, you also have to consider the cost of maintenance. If you own the machine yourself, you are responsible for maintaining its operation.

The most cost-effective option is to work with a company that will provide you with vending machines for your workplace without any upfront cost to your business. These options sometimes require a minimum number of employees or customer foot traffic to ensure profitability. Naturals2Go, the top healthy vending machine company in the industry, does have options for businesses looking for vending machines at no cost. You get all the benefits of having a vending machine in your workplace without the cost or hassle of buying or leasing the equipment.

When it comes to stocking a vending machine in your workplace, deciding what to put in it can be challenging. Your employees and customers all have unique tastes, so how do you know who to cater to? Do you fill it with chips and candy bars? Healthy-only snacks?

You won’t be able to make every employee one hundred percent happy, but the best you can do to hit everyone’s priorities is to simply provide options. Yes, you want to be responsible and provide healthy vending options at work, but those options can also include snacks that feel like indulgences.

Healthy options benefit both you and your employees. People who fuel their bodies with quality foods are more focused during the day. They have increased energy, and their productivity levels increase. People who eat healthy snacks during the day are also less likely to experience the blood sugar spikes and crashes that come along with eating unhealthy snacks or lots of refined sugars during the day.

When you make healthy snacks convenient, and you provide enough options to hit people with a sweet tooth, as salty craving or the need to replace a meal, your workplace vending machine will be successful, and your business may just be more successful, as well.

Get a Vending Machine at Work Now

If you are ready to give your employees and customers access to healthy snack options during the day and to reap the benefits of happier, healthier people, Naturals2Go can help. We can help you provide quality snacks and foods, including (but not limited to):