YoNaturals Vending Machines

I wonder if public schools will go to something like this as they are forced to get rid of junk food.  I think it would be great.

 agreed!!  vending machines may be wasteful (in terms of energy consumption), but if they're gonna be around anyway i'd much rather have these alternatives!

Couldn't agree more with that...when I think back to what I ate in school, I really can't believe it. Many days was garlic pizza topped with ranch dressing, a side of fries, and a honey bun (cinnamon roll thing)...crazy.

I don't really think Vitamin Water is the solution, but there are some other options that would be WAY better.

We appreciate the support for our cause, and thank you for the posting! We know that vending doesn't necessarily have the best reputation (nor should it the way it has been handled), and we are endevouring to change that.

To answer the question in the post:

Whether we are considered officially "green" or not is not certain. Here's what we can tell you for sure:

- Our machines are set by their distributors to be turned off during non-peak vending hours

- The machines are equipped with programs that "learn" when they should be put into energy saving modes based on usage of that machine in its particular location

- Only the portions of the machine that need refrigeration (based on the products) are refrigerated.

- Long story short, our machines use less energy than a refrigerator

We also of course only provide natural and organic snacks and drinks (with the exception of our health club machines, which serve a different demographic). As well, schools have stricter nutritional guidelines, so only those snacks that meet or exceed those guidelines are offered in schools.

Hope that helps answer any questions. Once again, we appreciate the support!

Definitely a step in the right direction both in terms of energy efficiency and helping people eat a bit healthier even if they are on the run.  I'm a big fan of Stacy's pita chips.

The only thing is...(and yes, we've talked about it before)...Fiji water?  Oooff...bottled water gets me in general, but Fiji...why spend so much energy on such a tiny little bottle of water?

 This is really exciting! I would LOVE to have one of these vending machines at my work. I mean, there could definitely be some tailoring in the product department. The Vitamin Water and Fiji water are far from ideal but also better than a Coke or Pepsi, for sure.

I am also a huge fan of Stacy's pita chips. yum.

I want to see more of these (actually, I haven't seen one yet) in workplaces and schools. That would be so great!

What a novel idea, anyway. Why didn't I think of that?

Kirbs,

Keep in mind, that image is a VERY small sampling of our product line. We have over 500 natural and organic snacks and drinks to choose from, and more every day. For example, we agree that Vitamin Water still has too much sugar; nonetheless, some people prefer it. It's still better than a soda, which has a lot more sugar and is typically a less healthy version, such as high fructose corn syrup.

I want to commend YoNaturals for coming on here and addressing our posts.  I think that shows a lot about the company.  Its nice to know they are going to "the source" for ideas and comments on their products.

Nitedreamer,

The location provides the outlet and pays for the power, and no we do not use EnergyStar. We have included our own technology in the machines (as mentioned above) in order to reduce the energy footprint as much as possible. We are aware of the importance of the green movement, and are continually attempting to improve our ability to run these machines as efficiently as possible.

Thanks for the comments and well wishes!

Best,

YoNaturals

The vending machine Yo Naturals has talked about sounds similar in concept to what Coca-Cola has done with their line up.  They have implemented energy saving technology that learns what times of day to cool more than others, etc.  Don't think they are actually EnergyStar certified either - they started their program around the last Olympic games in China.  They save gobs of energy over the older units.  If I remember right, they plan on deploying 40,000 of the newer type of units - and retireing many of the old.  Of course this has nothing to do with the product being "soda" and served in plastic bottles... LOL

This unit from Yo Naturals looks awsome - wish my hospital had one (or three) placed around.  We could definately use such snack choices!

Yo Naturals Vending machine used for Multiple proposes.Yo Naturals Vending business is very imaginative for the products that are sold.Vender machine avoid the Customer to face the seller face to face.And Thanks for sharing the views with us.

I am new around here, but I will weigh in with a couple of thoughts. I did own a vending company for 24yrs., sold it 3 yrs. ago and now am a consultant for smaller vending companies (when I am not blogging, lol)  

First, you do not necessarily need a dedicated healthy snack machine to sell these type of products. You can request your vender at your workplace to carry some healthy products in their existing machines. The largest problem most vendors still face with healthy products is the increased cost factor that the average consumer is not willing to pay for. On average, 'junk food' will still far outsell any healthy snack, very sad but simply the facts. I hear clients all the time wanting more healthy snacks but certainly do not want their commission check from the machines to drop, or want their patrons to pay more.... a constant problem. I am in the MD/DC/VA area and in the past 3 or 4 yrs. the schools have been forced to stop selling 'junk' snacks and only provide healthy snacks.  The schools had to be forced to by the local legislatures..... not because they do not like selling healthy snacks, but they were dependent on the commission income. For example, I had 2 high schools who received over $30,000 per school year in commissions but when switched to all healthy, dropped to $4,000 to $6,000.  This was a much discussed issue on the local news, as local schools were desperate to replace the lost revenue.

Another point I would like to make is that all vending machines are becoming more energy efficient, which is great!  With modern technology most new machines being sold can be programmed for peak usage. Also many locations such as schools, offices and manufacturing do not allow machines to be used at certain times, which was a factor in manufacturers improving the programming. Vendors normally do not pay for the electricity on locations, but for some refrigerated units such as soda machines, a benefit for the vendor is the increased longevity of the compressors - a major cost factor. With many refrigerated units, such as sandwich machines or ice cream machines, there are health code issues and the temperature must remain constant.  Vendors do have options when they buy their machines as there are many manufactures just like automobiles. For example, Coca Cola buys most of their machines from Royal Vendors or Dixie Narco - a Maytag Company. 

Again, I am new here so I hope nobody thinks I am being negative, just trying to enlighten to some facts. Going Green is a long and expensive conversion process, snacks and vending machines are just a small part.  I do my part as much as possible, even have a going green website now!