A
14
u t o m a t ic
A
ge
June, 1931
THE OUTLOOK FOR REFRIGERATED
VEND ING MACHINES
Editorial Review by W A LTE R W. HURD
The hot summer months are logically
at in the way of refrigerated food venders.
the time to examine the progress and out
This automatic store has all the class and
look for refrigerated vending machines of
appearance of a large electric refrigerator
all kinds. Included in this group will be
designed for a retail store and is fitted
machines for vending bottled and bulk with General Electric refrigerating equip
beverages, frozen fruit juices, ice cream
ment. Designed to be placed in apartment
and frozen confections, and food products
buildings, this new store suggests the pro
requiring refrigeration. Electric refrigera posal of the vending machine trade to bring
tion and dry ice seem the most adaptable
packaged food products almost to the
to vending machine requirements, although
customer’s door. So far as the mechanical
ordinary ice has been used in many of
efficiency of the automatic store goes, it
the developments now in progress. The
is well able to display and sell a variety
progress with these venders has not indi
of packaged food products requiring re
cated the speed that some had hoped for,
frigeration.
but the patient efforts of manufacturers
It was the merchandising tide of the
and inventors to perfect these devices last two or three years in favor of packaged
deserves respect and is enough to keep up
foods and meats that evidently prepared
our expectations.
the way for such automatic stores. Wher
The entrance o f quick freezing processes
ever tried, there has been indicated a dis
for meat, fruit and vegetables has intro tinct customer preference for packaged
duced what evidently is a transition period
meats, so that many authorities on the
into the whole subject -of refrigeration
food industry feel that ultimately most
atgain. The result may be to cause a meat products sold will be in packages.
temporary halt in the perfection of re
This is a decided aid to the advancement
frigerated food venders as the trade tries
of selling by machine, for vending ma
to accommodate itself to the new develop
chines must have products to be vended
ments in the larger field of refrigeration.
put up in uniform size packages. Consider
It is well understood that the whole subject
able interest in the prospect o f selling
of quick frozen products is still in the ex packaged meats by machine has been
perimental stage, even Mr. Birdseye him
shown since the idea of such packages
self having recently suggested the fact that began to develop. Even one or two of the
there may be much to learn yet about largest packing establishments have indi
quick freezing. The relation of the quick
cated an interest in what the vending ma
freezing process to the progress o f re chine trade had to offer. An early proposal
frigerated food venders is to delay them, was to construct a standard store display
because if frozen foods should serve to
counter in sections, each unit to be fitted
largely displace ordinary refrigerated foods, with proper coin chute and also display
then vending machines would have to be
samples of the meat properly. The custo
adapted to handle the more complex
mer would simply select the cut o f meat
marketing of frozen products. This intro
desired from the sample, deposit proper
duction of a new process comes at a time
coin in the slot, and received the packaged
when the makers of refrigerated vending meat ready for carrying home.
machines are having enough trouble in
If the food market remained in the
trying to perfect machines to handle food
simpler stages of selling fresh packaged
under ordinary refrigeration.
meats under refrigeration, it is highly
The Delamat refrigerated automatic probable that vending machines would be
stores recently introduced in New York in developed to a degree of perfection that
dicates what the automatic trade is aiming would make the placing of automatic stores
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