These days, consumers are more health-conscious than ever. So, while flavor and indulgence used to be the name of the game in the past, modern brands have to adjust their offerings to appeal to new demographics.
In the vending machine industry, healthy snacks and beverages are a must to ensure steady sales. While there will always be room for traditional offerings like Coca-Cola and pretzels, operators must have a broader selection to succeed. So, with that in mind, let’s look at eight healthy drinks that should be in your vending machine.
Note: Not all of these beverages may work in the same machine. For example, if your primary offering is soda, it might not make sense to sell smoothies. Pick the drinks that fit the machine’s aesthetic instead of just trying to put “healthy” products inside.
Kicking things off is the healthiest drink of them all – water. Considering that the human body is about 60 percent water, this beverage is essential for our existence. Plus, bottled water is a standard vending machine offering, so consumers are already used to buying it. Popular brands include Dasani, Aquafina, and Arrowhead, but you can stock your machine with more generic brands, and it shouldn’t affect your sales (while improving your bottom line).
While regular water is vital for hydration and keeping one’s body balanced, coconut water goes a step further and adds electrolytes and vitamins to the mix (i.e., potassium). Natural coconut water is low in sugar and calories while tasting much better than regular bottled water.
Fortunately, there are many coconut water brands, like Vita Coco, Iberia, and Zico, and the beverage is much more commonplace today than in years past. When choosing the best coconut water to include in your machine, pay attention to the sugar content, as some brands add extra sweeteners to make the water taste better.
If your vending machine has the capability and you’re okay with restocking more often, you can offer real coconuts with straws so consumers can get the freshest and tastiest water (plus coconut meat) possible.
As far as trendy health drinks go, kombucha tea has been experiencing a meteoric rise over the last few years. Although this beverage has a bit steeper of a tasting curve than other types of tea, it’s still popular enough to stock it in a vending machine and expect to move units regularly.
You must be strategic about what else you sell in your vending machine and where to put it. For example, if you have a machine in a high-traffic public place, kombucha could be hit or miss because so many demographics are passing by every day. Alternatively, if you have a vending machine at a college campus or health-conscious strip mall, you can stock multiple flavors and sell out consistently.
Kombucha includes a host of healthy ingredients, including probiotics, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and vinegar that can kill harmful bacteria in the body.
As with coconut water or kombucha, regular unsweetened iced tea can upgrade normal water by adding nutrients and electrolytes to the mix. There are tons of iced tea brands like Brisk, Arizona, Gold Peak, Snapple, Pure Leaf, and many more. Even better, most of these brands have flavored tea options that are still sugar-free or have low sugar content.
The health benefits of iced tea include manganese, which helps the body heal faster, and flavonoids, which regulate the heart and circulatory system.
People enjoy drinking soda because of the carbonation that dances across the tongue like a parade of salsa dancers in a rush to exit the stage. However, sparkling water can be a much healthier alternative because soft drinks are so bad for the body (even diet versions).
Brands like La Croix and Bubly have also become big names in recent years, so stocking these beverages can improve recognition and sales numbers at your machines. The trick is offering top-selling flavors while leaving enough room for other types of drinks so everyone can get what they want.
Regarding health benefits, sparkling water can aid digestion, improve hydration, and help keep consumers satiated, so they eat less.
While flavored sparkling water is trendy, Vitamin Water is healthier because it contains added nutrients, vitamins, and minerals to help the body stay pristine. However, some Vitamin Water flavors can have a lot of sugar, so you should pay attention to the nutrition label before adding it to your rotation.
Although there are several vitamin-infused water brands, Vitamin Water has the most prominent name recognition, so it’s an excellent starter option. Then, you can incorporate different brands once your customers know what to expect from your machine.
Fruit and vegetable smoothies are relatively common these days, and many consumers reach for them as a healthy alternative to soda and other sugary beverages.
Most vending machines don’t offer pre-made smoothies because they expire faster and must be swapped out more often. But, if you’re willing to be more of a hands-on operator, you can add different smoothie mixes to your supply and see how well they sell.
As with kombucha, the location of your machine matters since you want to sell as much product as possible, not throw it away because it’s expired. We recommend starting with one flavor and expanding the options if customers buy them.
While smoothies are fresh and healthy, fruit juice can run the gamut from sickeningly sweet and unhealthy to something you’d want to drink after a workout. Plus, there are so many brands and options for fruit juice that you could theoretically have a machine that sells nothing but juice with no repeats.
Examples of healthy fruit juices include apple juice, orange juice, beet juice, prune juice, and pomegranate juice. If you’re going to stock relatively obscure juices, you have to be strategic about your offerings. Also, pay close attention to the sugar levels, particularly added sugar, as that can indicate unhealthier brands.
Knowing what to stock in your beverage vending machine is only the first part – now you need to have a device in place at a high-traffic venue. Vend-Co provides a wide array of machine options to suit all your needs. Whether you’re opening your first vending machine or the hundredth, Vend-Co is the best resource for high-tech and reliable equipment.
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