The vending technology offering healthier choices

David Llewellyn, Chief Executive of the AVA (the Vending & Automated Retail Association), discusses the features and benefits of the latest food and drink vending machines in healthcare facilities. He explains that today’s machines use increasingly sophisticated technology to help healthcare estates teams identify the biggest-selling products, ensure rapid re-stocking, minimise waste, and ensure that patients, staff, and visitors in hospitals and other healthcare settings have a good choice of snacks, and indeed hot choices, whatever the time of day.

Hospitals and other healthcare facilities are prime locations for vending machines, providing a valuable service for patients, visitors, and staff, who need quick access to food and drink at all times of the day and night. For many years, however, the stereotype has often been that these vending machines are badly maintained, poorly stocked, and, most importantly, offer only a selection of unhealthy food and drink. This is far from ideal in a healthcare setting, either for those using the machines, or for healthcare estate managers tasked with keeping them operational.

Thankfully, that stereotype is outdated. Instead, today's vending machines use a range of leading-edge technology to offer a service that is quick and seamless, while being able to dispense a healthier range of snacks and drinks. In this article, I'll explore how modern technology is now coming to fill the gaps that vending once missed out on, and in turn helping to revolutionise hospital nutrition. Through the evolution of this technology, and an added emphasis on smart maintenance, we'll see how modern vending is making life easier for healthcare estate managers, and making an active contribution to overall wellbeing.