A wide range of smoothie, hot drinks, ice cream, pizza, bakery and other vending machines is now available for convenience stores and forecourts, with talks and trials underway with major brands and symbol groups. 

SV365, which currently supplies the autonomous equipment to venues such as hospitals and universities, is targeting an expansion into convenience stores and forecourts with its VendGo arm. 

Want told Better Retailing that many of the devices picked are specific to the needs of convenience stores. He said: “I know stores are focusing on their food-to-go sections. There’s been a lot of investment in that part of convenience in the past 10 years, and it keeps going. As stores are refitted, they embrace new technology and put those platforms in.” 

Summarising the purpose of SV365’s machines in convenience stores, he said they answered the question of ‘What goes next to that Costa Express machine?’.  He said while Rustlers units had succeeded in convenience because they provide a simpler hot-food offer, customers now are prepared to pay for “quality hot food”. 

Want cited the rollout of Greggs and Subway in forecourts, but said SV365’s machines can thrive in sites that cannot support such large franchises. 

The consultant explained VendGo’s smaller “snack-based” machines need only five-to-seven vends per day to be profitable, while larger units need 15-20 to “start earning good margin”. 

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High footfall and late opening are signs the machines will be a good fit, according to the company. 

Want added: “The solutions we’re putting in are very space efficient or they do multiple things. For instance, our fresh blend machine does iced coffee, slush, smoothies and milkshakes in one machine that is 600mm wide.” 

He added there would “hopefully be a trial underway soon” involving BP and its ice cream machine. 

VendGo said these can be leased “for less than £9 per day”. Want said: “If you are selling Mr Whippy-style ice cream at £2.50 with low ingredient costs, that will pay for itself very quickly.” The unit only requires a standard plug socket to operate. Better Retailing understands many of its machines start at around £10,000 for outright purchase. 

Want added that other parties “looking to bring trials into stores over the next few months” include symbol groups and supermarkets with convenience arms. 

The company is also trialling putting branded equipment into convenience stores.  Want said: “We’re working with some major brand owners on certain bits of kit – bakery, breakfast and pizza. We are doing trials with big brand owners because we realise that in hospitality, leisure and forecourts, well-known brands add reassurance to consumers.” 

Promotional material given to stores by SV365 lists different machines, including Yo-Kai Express ‘robot chef’ ramen stations; Microbakery savoury-and-sweet-hot-baked-goods machines; ‘Change Please’, which is a hot drinks range, with profits supporting homelessness causes; Hot & Fresh French Fries, which makes chips in 35 seconds; Authentic Italian Stone Baked Pizza; and Alberts for smoothies, hot soups and milkshakes. 

Despite F’real’s success being driven partly by free-on-loan equipment, Want said all equipment would need to be purchased or leased, pointing to falling store margins on many free-on-loan concepts. 

“We recognise that while stores have capital to spend on equipment, the day-to-day running costs need to be low, including the labour costs of operating machines,” he said. 

He added that it typically takes between eight and 16 weeks from agreeing a contract to installation, depending on the machine type, as some need plumbing, drainage and 16A sockets. 

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