Hungry At The Horse Show. No food trucks in sight

[LookinForSpace]

@Impractical_Horsewoman

and Pop Tarts

Hey Limerick – is there access to a microwave or could/would you put one next to the vending machine? IF so, that could open up more possibilities!

Cup of ramen soups
Other soup cups
Hot chocolate
Warm PopTarts
Fresh-popped popcorn (on second though, in case of burnt popcorn…maybe not. LOL)
Hot wrap sandwiches
Egg rolls

Okay, I think I’m getting a bit too carried away here. With all the suggestions from this thread, you’d have enough for half a dozen vending machines. Though I’m sure you plan to try out various products and rotate according to season and what sells best.

Let us know what you end up putting in your stock, it’ll be interesting to know what worked out for you and what people actually will buy. It’s kinda fascinating to see what sells in vending machines. In Japan, they’re a very popular method of selling products and apparently you can buy just about anything in a vending machine, including clothing.

[Limerick]

I am definitely pricing items as I taste taste new items. That is how I found Weird Water from Austin, Texas. I originally thought I would go with Liquid Death BUT it ships from Europe! Delicious but no can do. I have an Amazon Business account as well as BJ’s.

[Limerick]

No access right now. It would be nice though!!

[drop_shot]

@Limerick I may have missed it, but did you specify whether or not your vending machine for food will be refrigerated? If it will be, I would recommend checking out Farmer’s Fridge (https://www.farmersfridge.com/) for inspiration. They are fantastic! If something like that existed at a horse show, I would be stopping by that machine every day of the show.

[Limerick]

It is refrigerated. I will take a look at those protein bars. That is an excellent vending machine but the logistics of offering highly perishable food like salads are too complicated.

[BrownDerby]

I would not go overboard on refrigerated items. You want to be on good terms with your fellow vendors. I do suggest adding dog treats though.

[IndysMom]

Knowing absolutely nothing abbot vening machines, can you give a brief synopsis of how you got started with them? Not the “where to buy one” but I assume you can’t just show up somewhere and put one there. So how?

[IPEsq]

Be very careful with granola bars and protein bars in a refrigerated machine. Anyone else nearly break a tooth on a too cold Clif bar?

[Limerick]

It has a place for refrigerated items but the dry items are away from that area.

[vxf111]

Maybe it’s just me but I would be squeamish buying food from a machine that also sold dry goods and dog treats.

[Paint_Party]

@Limerick

It is refrigerated.

During the hot weather months I would love a cold Snapple or lemonade!

[Limerick]

Interesting……so do you avoid vending machines like this?

[vxf111]

If they have dog treats and a sewing kit etc. then yeah, I probably would not buy food for myself from them. It just kind of weirds me out.

This photo shows only edible people food in the vending machine. That’s normal. What is not normal is mixing people and animal food in one machine.

I also would be weirded out if I went to the grocery store and canned human food and canned cat food were on the same shelf.

I wouldn’t want to be guessing whether E3 was people crackers or dog crackers and not finding out for sure until I bought one.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a vending machine with animal food and people food and I suspect that’s because I’m not the only one who would find that weird and off putting.

[MHM]

So in that machine, are the drinks kept cold while the stuff above is at room temperature? If so, I guess I’ve not paid enough attention to vending machines to realize that was an option.

[Limerick]

I have definitely seen machines that offer food, drinks, and sundry items. And if I did horse treats, it would be peppermints but only if I find them in cellophane which breaks down fairly quickly. I personally don’t see a need for dog treats and the crackers will be very obviously human grade.

[vxf111]

Peppermints wouldn’t weird me out. That’s people food we choose to give to horses. Someone upthread suggested DOG TREATS.

And I would be worried that some sundry items (boot polish or other chemical stuff like sunscreen or similar) would leak on the food. I just kind of find the idea of mixed people/animal food/ non food items in one vending machine off putting.

People are responding with suggestions like this vending machine will be the last stop on the Oregon trail with no ability to find any supplies ever again. I suggest it just contain food, like most vending machines. People food and people drink.

[Limerick]

I appreciate all the brainstorming COTH has done on this thread! It has given me a lot of good ideas as well as cementing some ideas I already had.

[Limerick]

Yes!

[Rel6]

It seems like it would be pretty easy to put sundry items on rows below anything edible, although to be honest this would not concern me at all. I guarantee my horseshow backpack has sunscreen rolling around in there with a bag of chips.

It would equally not concern me to have very clearly labeled dog or horse treats in the same vending machine.

[541hunter]

@Limerick

I am looking for cold coffees that taste really good too.

Have you come across the various Stumptown cold brew options? They have canned nitro cold brew and little single-serving cartons with oat milk and sweetener. I’d love to have some handy cold brew options at the shows—especially because I always seem to arrive long before the coffee cart opens!