This spectacle is less and less surprising: vending machines installed near farms which offer their own potatoes, vegetables or fruit, or those from neighboring producers, directly to consumers. Since the pandemic, we have seen a boom in this practice, which has a direct impact on Vendavid’s activity. “It is increasingly interesting for producers to have a direct sales channel to consumers in addition to their existing customer base,” explains Christophe David, managing director of the Flemish vending company.
Vendavid, specializing in the development and installation of agro-automates for agricultural operations, was born from the company Inagra in Pittem, Flanders. “I worked at Inagra, which had been developing such vending machines since 2008. However, in the mid-2010s the old site became too small to develop both the vending machines and the film packaging and pressing machines, which they mainly specialized in. My vision and interest was more focused on vending machines, which gave me the opportunity to continue their production and development in a separate company. The production of agricultural vending machines is a very specific niche in the agricultural machinery sector. That’s why I started looking for my own site and we now operate with Vendavid, 2 km away, and we continue to work with Inagra on a good basis, but as two separate entities. »
The company therefore stands out for its specialization in a specific product: vending machines which allow producers to offer their potatoes, vegetables and fruits for sale 24/7 to interested consumers. “We do this in particular for producers who want to offer a little greater capacity. For example, we build and install a robust carousel, which makes it possible to offer 4 to 8 floors and compartments 150 to 340 mm high depending on needs. Additionally, the number of compartments per floor can vary from 8 to 23, which means the vending machines can store up to 184 products. »
“What people put in the vending machines is up to them. The device is suitable for both potatoes and fruit and vegetables. But the other day, a customer in France bought 10 machines from us to sell pellets and a Walloon swimming pool specialist uses them to store bottles of chlorinated water for swimming pool maintenance. These machines are built so sturdy that they can be used for almost anything. Simply plug them in, after which they can be placed outdoors and withstand all weather conditions. »
The Corona effect
The business has been operating independently for about seven years, but David’s most active period was during the pandemic. “It was a real boom. No one could open their store anymore, so an unmanned vending machine was the solution to keep selling. Demands increased fourfold, which demanded a lot from us as a company. For me, we would be ready to do it again! »
“Of course, the delivery times were a little longer, because the delivery of parts was seriously hampered, but overall it wasn’t that bad. We worked a lot with contract students, often the sons of farmers in the region. They also had nothing to do and could earn a little pocket money. In this way, we were able to double our staff. While some of our competitors achieved delivery times of a year, we stayed within six months. »
“We are now back to a two-month delivery time. The rush has calmed down somewhat, but the growing awareness of the importance of the short chain and local food means that we are still very busy. We may be a little more expensive than others. In fact, the minimum number of compartments in our vending machine is 60, and therefore it can go up to 184. Comparing to the compartment, we are actually cheaper, but this means that we are mainly interesting for businesses who want to install larger capacity vending machines. However, we stand out for our quality, which means that no maintenance is necessary, and in addition, we always want to offer the best possible personalized service. This seems to work because customers who buy from us always come back when they want to install another vending machine in another location. Thus, we have already installed 5, 6 or 7 vending machines for several companies. 30% of the vending machines we manufacture and install are intended for existing customers. »
Locker development
To do this, Vendavid naturally started with customers in Belgium, but in the meantime the sales area has expanded to France, Switzerland, Poland and the Netherlands. “In addition, we have recently become increasingly active in Germany. We have installed between 15 and 20 vending machines there, particularly for potato producers. However, the company plans to continue its expansion in the future. Ultimately, we would like to enter foreign markets, where the UK or Austria, for example, are also very interesting. »
“It is partly for this reason that we are developing a new module that we will be able to offer at the beginning of 2025: a locker. This is a smaller variant, which will be easy to connect to the existing vending machine, allowing it to be expanded with, for example, 10 to 20 additional lockers. The reverse is of course also possible if you want to start with a locker and later add a vending machine. The payment unit then operates automatically on both modules. Here too, energy consumption is optimized to keep it as low as possible. In this way, we hope to make great progress in the years to come. »
For more information:
Christophe DavidVendavid
Such. : +32 472915479
[email protected]
www.vendavid.be
