Imagine a world where, instead of chips and candy coming out of a vending machine, fresh local organic salads, breakfasts and snacks came out instead.
Well thanks to an innovative company, that is now a reality in Chicago.
Over the last years, healthy products were largely presented in healthy looking eco packages at farmer markets and in hipster eco supermarkets, but now the market seems to be opening up.
Healthy food is increasingly available in an ‘on-the-go’ mode.
Obviously, the idea here is to reach out to a new group of customers that likes to eat healthy but sticks to the to fast-food habits that are deeply rooted in their lifestyles.
In Chicago the latest innovation in this field is Farmer’s Fridge, a new vending machine that offer fresh salads in recyclable plastic jars. The idea is interesting, but to keep the salads really fresh requires hard work.
This is What The Fridge Looks Like
Every morning the team picks up fresh produce from the country side and starts preparing the salads at 5 AM (!). At 10 AM the company fills its vending machines, and removes yesterday’s salads (that will be donated to a local pantry).
Did You See The Size of These Jars?!
Visitors of a local food court can now get a tasty and fresh salad for $6 to $8. The jars can be returned to the kiosk and will be re-used in order to diminish waste. Every day from 6 PM a $1 discount is automatically given on all salads.
The Chicago based company prefers to call it a ‘veggie machine’ rather than a vending machine.
The innovative vending machines offer a wide selection of tasty and nutritious salads, including Antioxidant, High Protein, Detox, Thai, Mediterranean, North Napa, and more. Healthy dressings are included, are presented in mouthwatering layers in BPA and phthalate free plastic jars. There are also separate smaller jars of organic meats, such as lemon pepper chicken, tuna salad, lemon tofu, and salmon salad.
Talk About Getting Your Daily Dose of Veggies!
Farmer’s Fridge also offers healthy snacks, including Greek yogurt with berries, sliced apples with almond butter, sliced vegetables with hummus, Farmer’s Salad with cottage cheese, with new options always in development.
Yummy!
At the time of writing there are three kiosks around Chicago with new outlets being rolled out in the near future. The Farmer’s Fridge Web site has a Kiosk Request Form for those interested in seeing a “veggie machine” crop up in their neighbourhood.
This could be extended country wide to give us all a chance to support this simple yet innovative idea.
Here is a short video showing a Farmer’s Fridge veggie machine:
https://youtu.be/uVMwHkNL-H4
sources:
https://popupcity.net/
https://www.treehugger.com/
https://www.fastcoexist.com/