Top 5 Coffee Vending Machines

Almost everybody has dispensed coffee from a vending machine, at least once in their life. Hot drink vending machines are common in offices, malls, hospitals, colleges and restaurants. However, at each of these places you will see a different type of vending machine, depending on the space available and consumer traffic.

Let’s shed light on the different types of hot drink vending machines found at different locations: 

Freestanding

Freestanding or floor-standing coffee machines offer a wide range of hot beverages and are suitable for high traffic locations like malls, canteen areas or big offices. These machines have the capacity to dispense large volumes of hot drinks and are technologically advance to offer to pre-selection offers for adjusting the quantity of milk and sugar and even the strength of the coffee. 

Table Top

Table top coffee machines are similar to their freestanding counterparts, except that they are much small and take lesser space. As the name suggests, they can be conveniently kept on a kitchen or pantry table top in hotels, restaurants, and offices.  

Instant Coffee

If you want a good hot drink vending machine at minimum cost, an instant coffee machine is your best bet! Compact in size and structure, instant coffee machines make delicious coffee at the push of a button, with minimum hassle and fuss.

Bean to Cup

If you think your customers have a taste for barista quality cappuccinos, lattes and espressos, bean to cup coffee machines are ideal for you. Since coffee is freshly ground from the bean, you can let your customers and staff enjoy delicious espresso based hot beverages at the touch of a button, straight from the bean to the cup.

Filter Coffee

For a quick kick start to your day, filter coffee machines are the best option for hassle free coffee making. The simple and speedy operation of filter coffee machines makes them ideal for event catering and other busy functions.

Why is a Vending Machine Business Your Best Option

If you want to start a small-scale business that doesn’t require a 6-digit investment, but does generate 5-digit profits, doesn’t require any advance degree to set up, and is also easy to manage, a vending machine business is your best option. Why, you ask? Let’s look at some of the reasons: 

Be Your Own Boss

It is you who will make the business plan, decide which machine and supplies to purchase, deal with the suppliers, decide the location and enjoy the benefits. The vending machine business is solely yours and it is up to you however you wish to operate it.

Low Initial Investment

Commercial vending machines and its supplies are available at affordable prices. You can start a vending machine business at a minimal cost, unless you are looking into large, freestanding vending machines. 

Low Time Investment

Once you have placed your vending machine in a prime location, the business is easy to manage and requires minimum of your time and effort. On an average day, all you need to do is visit the vending machine once, collect your money, and restock if necessary. In fact, with Autobar taking care of your vending machine maintenance and restocking, you only have to worry about collecting the cash.

Flexible Working Hours

Since vending machines require minimum management, you can consider it a part time business and continue to have a full time job, without any stress or hassle. 

Steady Income

While most businesses take years just to break even, let alone start making profits, a vending machine business can generate profits within months of setting up. In fact, if you chose the right kind of vending machine and set it up in a prime location, such as a healthy snack vending machine in a gym, you can start earning a steady income within a couple of weeks. 

Cash Payments

Since most vending machines are coin operated, you never have to worry about bounced cheques, credit card fraud, or chargeback fraud. 

Now that you are aware of the great many benefits of a vendingmachine business, buy a vending machine from Autobar soon and enjoy maximum profits with minimal effort!

Different Types of Vending Machines

There is a large variety of products available via vending machines throughout most cities in the UK, with an equally rich array of ways they can be dispensed. Commercial vending machines have been categorized in a number of ways, according to the type of product they dispense. Here are the 10 most common categories of vending machines in the UK:

Hot Drinks Vending Machines

Hot drinks have become the most common vended items in the UK, most likely because 60% of vending machines are now placed in workplaces. The most popular hot beverage dispensed is coffee, followed by tea, hot chocolate, and soup.

Cold Drink Vending Machines

Cold beverages are another very popular dispensed item in the UK, the most popular ones being soda, followed by ice tea, juice, milk and milkshakes.

Snack Vending Machines

Snack vending machines, while supplying any type of sweet or savoury snack, can also dispense cold drink in bottles or cans; a combination of two of UK’s most popular vended products. The snacks include crisps, pastries, ice-cream, nuts, candy bars, sweets, and others.

Ice Cream and Frozen Food Vending Machines

During the hot summer days, ice cream vending machines become the most sought after category, and vending machines that dispense frozen food like pizza and hot dog sandwich, are great for those looking for more than just a quick bite.

Change Vending Machines

This vending machine dispenses change in exchange for bills and can be useful in places like parking garages or laundry shops.

Gumball and Novelty Machines

An absolute favourite among kids, these vending machines are found in malls, amusement parks, and other entertainment venues and may dispense gumballs, bouncy balls, tattoos, or stickers.

Ice Dispensers

Ice dispensers come in various sizes for residential or commercial use. Combined with a water dispenser, this vending machine can be very helpful and convenient in both homes and offices. 

Medicine and Hygiene Products

These vending machines are mostly found in public bathrooms at restaurants, airports, clubs and malls and may dispense baby changing essentials, toothbrushes, toothpaste, condoms, tampons, hand sanitizers and other hygiene products.  

Healthy Vending Machines

Healthy vending machines contain regular vending supplies like drinks, snacks, and foods, but of healthy brands that have better nutritional value. This category of vending machines is gaining rapid popularity in the UK as people are become increasingly health conscious.

Custom Vending Machine

Installed by a specific company or brand, these vending machines dispense products of only that particular brand, like newspapers, sports equipment or perfume. 

If you are planning to start a vending machine business, browse through our wide range of commercialvending machines and vending supplies and you will definitely find one that suits your needs!

Start a Vending Machine Business - Tips and Advice

In today’s fast-moving way of life, people seldom have the time to wait in long queues for a quick snack or a refreshing cold drink. Due to this, the vendingmachine business has been able to establish a strong foothold as it dispenses food in a matter of seconds. For every 55 people in the UK, there is 1 vending machine. While that number may not seem much, the industry continues to evolve further every day with many potential opportunities waiting to be tapped. This sort of business has a small start up cost and the potential to generate a return on investment from the very first day.

If you are interested in setting up a vending machine business, be assured that’s it’s a great, recession-proof business idea. Follow these tips and advice for guaranteed success!

1 Start Small

Even though the vending machine business does not require a large investment, it is still advisable to start small so that you can assess the success and profitability of the business. Ideally, you should buy only one or two vending machines when starting out.

2 Find a Reputable Supplier

Look for a well established vending machine supplier who has a reputation of providing a wide array of high quality vending machines and vending supplies. An added advantage would be if the supplier also offers great customer service through a team of service technicians and fully trained operators for vending machine
maintenance services.  

3 Location. Location. Location

Just as location is king in the real estate market, it is an equally important factor in the success of the vending machine business. If you install a gumball vending machine in a corporate district or a newspaper vending machine in a school, it is a recipe for disaster. Before you decide on the type of vending machine and its location, do your homework about the consumer traffic and demographics. An ideal place should be where consumer traffic, particularly on foot, is constant, like malls, hospitals, bus stops, movie theatres, parks, and schools. Just make sure that the vending supplies offered by the vending machine align with the demographics of the consumer traffic.

4 Be Efficient, Be Organized

You can improve your chances of having a booming business with clean, attractive, and well-supplied machines. Check upon your vending machines regularly to make sure that they are working efficiently and are stocked with fresh vending supplies. It is also important to maintain a “good looking” machine – have them cleaned and maintained to reflect your attentiveness as well as the superior quality of your products.

5 Keep Up With Market Trends

Suppose a new energy drink or healthy snack has hit the market and is getting popular among young adults, the first thing you should do is stock your vending machine with it. Offering popular items will definitely increase sales and profitability.

Now that you know how to start and run a successful vending machine business, place an order with us for top-notch vending machines and vending supplies now and reap the profits!