Robinson's Vending Machine

General

Healthier Lifestyle on the Go – Healthy Eating for Busy Lifestyles

In a world where life feels increasingly more demanding, trying to live a healthier lifestyle on the go can seem challenging. However, when you make yourself aware of the products that can help you gain the nutrients you need, with no prep or effort, maintaining your health becomes a breeze.

Get the protein you need with life bars

Your body relies heavily on protein to:

  • Build and regenerate cells
  • Construct the enzymes that help your organs function
  • Maintain your muscle mass

To many, it feels as though carbohydrates are easier to access. While they play a role in maintaining a healthy physical state, they’re not as important as protein.

One way to ensure you get a daily protein dose is through eating an Emma & Tom Raw Life Bar. Featuring a blend of fruit and nuts, they come in an array of enticing flavours. With the nuts, you’ll fill your body with protein. As for the fruit, it delivers the antioxidants you need to combat the pollutants you face each day.

Fill the gap using healthy snacks that are low in sugar

While sugar is excellent at making your energy levels rise rapidly, you’ll crash just as quickly too. Unfortunately, a lot of people turn to sugary snacks when they feel hungry. Doing this between the three main meals you eat each day can trigger your brain into wanting more junk, leading to a downward spiral of unhealthy eating.

Cobs Popcorn produces a litany of low-sugar snacks that are light enough to act as between meal treats. Alongside traditional popcorn, they also make Granola Go Bites and chips featuring only natural ingredients. With their treats, you can maintain your energy levels without resorting to junk food that causes blood sugar crashes.

Don’t forget to replace your electrolytes

Throughout the day, your body’s electrolyte balance relies on you drinking enough water and avoiding excessive sweating. Unfortunately, manually intensive jobs can have a significant impact on this. So can exercising.

One of the simplest ways to replace your electrolytes without turning to rehydration sachets is by drinking coconut water. Coconut water helps to balance your sodium and potassium levels, which in turn makes it easier for your cells to attract the right amount of water. In terms of physical health, maintaining the right balance is essential for feeling great.

With so many people interested in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, it’s easier to make healthy food choices on the go because everyone in the industry, from cafes to vending machines, is offering healthier options. You can now get these products from Robinson’s Vending Machines. So, even if you don’t leave the house with the products you need, grabbing them is easy while you’re on the move.

Past to Present: How Vending Machines Became an Economical Solution

It’s a simple concept: you put your money in the slot, press a button or combination of buttons, the mechanism whirrs into action and your product appears in the opening. According to Smithsonian Magazine, the first vending machine was invented in the Roman Empire almost 2000 years ago, when Hero of Alexandria was tasked with finding a way to distribute blessed water in temples.

Of course, modern machines are slightly more sophisticated than their ancient ancestors. Across the world you can find everything from candy bars to playing cards, DVDs to sunflower seeds, packed into trusty vending machines. In fact, these machines are poised to become the economical solution of the future.

Smart Connectivity

The Internet of Things – or IoT – is upon us, so what does this mean? It means that everything is connected; not just computers, smartphones and tablets… everything. Including vending machines.

Vending machines of the future – in fact, some vending machines can do this already – will be able to offer you tailored product recommendations based on what you have posted on social media. In addition, they will be able to connect you directly with special offers in exchange for social media promotion or recommendation.

Free Marketing

In the age of information, every individual person is their own media outlet, active across 5.54 social media accounts (on average) and sending (collectively) 60bn messages across Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp every single day.

This has the potential to slash the marketing budget of caterers and vendors. When marketing opportunities are handed out on a plate like this, the amount of money which needs to be spent on active outbound marketing strategies falls considerably. This translates to serious savings for vendors and customers alike.

The Health Question

But reduced costs are not the be-all and end-all these days. Of course, in a time of global austerity, sensible pricing is important, but customers want more than this. They want other benefits, such as the prestige which comes from eating certain foods, the chance to sample diverse and sophisticated flavours, and, of course, access to healthy foods without an additional cost.

Healthy eating is big business, and, with the humble vending machine, catering companies have a chance to provide these calorie-conscious treats in a cost effective manner. This is what vending machines represent as an economical solution for businesses going forwards; reduced costs, without compromising on direct benefits to consumers.

To find out how much a vending machine can benefit your workplace, school, or other public areas, get in touch with Robinson’s Vending today.

5 Best Places to Install Vending Machines

Investing in vending machines is not for those looking to make a fortune overnight, or even over the next month. Vending machines are, however, a relatively safe investment. They are ideal for providing a stable and steady flow of income. As with any business venture, maximising revenues generated through vending sales requires research. Placement is, perhaps, one of the most important considerations when it comes to your vending machine. Below, we will outline 5 great placement ideas:

1. Waiting Rooms

We’ve all been in waiting rooms as they are located in multiple types of businesses. Take a look around the community where you would like to place your machines. There are waiting rooms in auto repair shops, doctor’s offices, beauty salons and even government offices. Talk to the owners of the various businesses and see if they are open to allowing the placement of your vending machines.

2. Workplaces

Check the office parks and manufacturing plants in your community. There are often common areas at these workplaces where employees go to have their breaks and even their lunches. Negotiate the placement of your vending machines with either the managers or building owners. Whether you choose to vend soft drinks, candy or other food items, you should be able to take full advantage of busy workers looking for a quick pick-me-up.

3. Store Fronts

Check the strip malls, grocery stores and department stores in your community. Discuss placement options with the general managers of the various businesses. You’ll probably have the best luck placing vending machines in front of stores that are not already selling food and drinks. Grocery store customers, however, will often like to secure a snack or a drink before shopping in order to avoid shopping while hungry.

4. Public Parks

Parks and recreation areas are wonderful places to generate money from vending machine sales. Cold sport drinks in particular will be attractive to individuals who frequent these areas in order to remain physically active. You might have to gain special permits from whatever city owns the park but in the end, any extra effort required to secure placement at a public park should be well worth it.

5. Hotels/Motels

This is another great place where people will often be on the lookout for a vending machine. Weary travelers, stopping to rest and reluctant to venture off into an unknown area, would be thrilled at the sight of a well-stocked vending machine.

These are just a few general ideas of where to place a vending machine should you decide on making the investment. If you would like more information on how to get started with vending machines, contact Robinson’s Vending to check out the wide range of vending machines we have available and to learn more about how you can start earning from vending machine hire.

Healthy Eating at the Push of a Button: Our Great-Tasting, Healthy Vending Options

Healthy eating and convenience do not usually go hand in hand in the work place. When we think of healthy eating, we tend to think of dietary consultants, weight loss plans, or complicated nutritional supplements. This does not exactly conjure up images of straightforward grub.

Perhaps we are just over thinking it. Perhaps healthy eating in the work place is easier to achieve than we first thought. Check out these great-tasting options from Robinson’s Vending, and discover how easy it can be to provide healthier options at work.

Vending, Re-Defined

Vending machines are certainly convenient, but not usually healthy. Robinson’s vending machines are a little different. With Robinson’s, you have the option of stocking a range of healthy treats in your vending machine, including favourites like Emma & Tom’s Life Bars.

Natural Goodness

Getting natural ingredients and flavours from a vending machine is not so difficult either. Coconut water, natural fruits and fruit drinks, and a whole range of other items are available for purchase. The idea is to provide a wholly different form of vending, one which focuses not only on convenience, but also on health. Think fast foods that are also genuinely nutritious foods.

Fresh Ingredients

Convenient dining in the workplace does not mean that you have to rely solely on a vending machine. These machines are great for healthy snacks and quick pick-me-ups, providing a quick and easy means for your colleagues to access both, but you have other options as well.

Direct catering services, like those provided by You Foods, can bring expertly prepared meals directly into the workplace. These meals are produced using only the freshest ingredients, offering health advantages which cannot be achieved with frozen and re-heated food.

Extensive Vegetarian Options

Whether you are a committed vegan or simply on the lookout for a lower-calorie alternative to your standard fare, your choice of workplace nourishment should not be limited. You Foods provides an extensive array of vegetarian cuisine aimed at offering variation and tantalisation for taste buds, without any negative impact on health.

It is time to rethink catering in the workplace and to move towards a simpler model. Healthiness and convenience do not need to be opposites; they can both be achieved at the same time, with a minimum of fuss. To find out more and to discover how this can be accomplished in your work place, get in touch with the Robinson’s Vending team today.

Top 5 Vending Machine Facts You Didn’t Know

Vending machines are amazing things – you put your dollar in and chocolate comes out. Magic! Robinson’s have been installing vending machines throughout South-East Queensland for decades, and now they are spreading throughout Australia. Here are five fun facts we bet you never knew about vending machines:

  • The world’s first vending machine was invented in Alexandria in the first century. Faced with the problem of church-goers stealing holy water, a man called Heron designed a machine that would dispense holy water when a coin or token was inserted. Amazingly, it would be another 1800 years before the idea was developed by Percival Everett to dispense notepaper and postcards.

 

  • If you’ve ever been to Japan or China, you’ll be used to seeing some pretty strange merchandise in a vending machine. I’ve seen beer and noodles in vending machines in Tokyo, but how about live crabs? In the subway station of Nanjing, China, customers can feed their Renminbi into the machine and head home with a live crab in their pocket (this option is not currently in development at Robinson’s)!

 

  • In 2016, Grenoble in France installed 8 vending machines to distribute short stories. A customer inserts his Euro and chooses 1, 3 or 5 – meaning stories that take 1, 3 or 5 minutes to read. The stories come from a database of over 5000 stories submitted by anonymous authors. The machines proved so successful in bibliophile France that the scheme is now spreading over the country, and internationally: A similar machine is already available in San Francisco.

 

  • In Houston, Texas, car manufacturer Carvana planned an ambitious 71 foot glass and steel vending machine – for cars! In the plans, customers could buy a token in store which they would then feed into the machine to retrieve the car of their choice. Plans were sadly shelved in December 2016 following problems securing a deal with the local planning commissions department.

 

  • In the past, vending machines had a bad reputation with environmentalists because of the impact of fluorinated gases. Thanks to recent developments in natural refrigerants and the use of recycled materials, vending machines are greener than ever. In 2010, Coca Cola introduced the ‘Green Roof’ vending machine. Green sheets made of moss and artificial turf are fitted to the top of a machine, helping to naturally lower the temperature. Robinson’s Vending are committed to sustainability. Remember to ask about Energy Star-rated machines when you order.

Top 10 Productivity Benefits of Vending Machines in the Office

Considering adding a vending machine to your office? You should be! Read on for ten reasons why a vending machine will add a major boost to your productivity.

Trips Offsite Can Be Lengthy and Tiring

Heading offsite to the local café or coffee shop doesn’t just reduce productivity; it kills it stone dead during the time that your team is gone. Vending machines eliminate this.

Mid-morning Snacks Keep Teams Going

Breakfast may give us the fuel to get through the day, but having a mid-morning pick-me-up can help us to bridge the gap between breakfast and lunch. This gives us the energy to be at our best.

Happy = Productive

When do you feel most productive? When you are down in the dumps or when you feel happy and looked after? Of course it is the latter, and this is how your team will feel when you have a well-stocked vending machine in the office.

Avoid Empty Stimulants

For many of us, when we feel tired or under the weather, we turn to energy drinks for a boost. Unfortunately, these drinks are packed with ‘empty’ stimulants which have little no positive effect – like taurine and guarana. Pack your vending machine with preferred alternatives…

Give Your Team the Boost They Need

… like coffee. The only active ingredients you will find in an energy drink are caffeine and sugar. Coffee can provide both of these elements, in a far healthier manner than an energy drink can.

Positive Benefits of Caffeine

Caffeine, in moderation, provides energy, focus and drive in the workplace. Use a vending machine to harness these benefits in your office.

Caffeine Education

Of course, too much caffeine can be disastrous for our bodies and for our stress levels. By distributing coffee from a vending machine in your office, you can help to educate your team on how much coffee is good, and how much represents a step too far.

Communication and Collaboration

A vending machine is like a water-cooler; it acts as a place for team members to socialise and to break from their standard routine. This might not sound like a productivity booster, but the atmosphere of collaboration, communication and co-operation that this fosters is invaluable to an effective office.

The Office Focal Point

Bringing snacks and meals into your office rather than having them offsite, brings the focal point back to helping your team to maintain their focus on productivity.

Vending Machines Are Healthier Than You Think

Vending machines get a bad rep, but this is unfair. By choosing the right sort of vending machine, you can achieve convenience and healthy eating at the same time. Health and wellbeing are two important features of a productive team. To find out more, give the Robinson’s Vending team a call on 0434 282 598 today.