Sowing the seeds

Fresh food vending fills a gap

One of the more unusual businesses to have achieved the healthyliving award recently is Abercromby Vending Ltd, an innovative company based in Glasgow.

Vending machines are not readily associated with healthy eating, conjuring up thoughts of impulse buys of sugary drinks and confectionery, but Director Tracey Graham came from a catering background and was able to bring a fresh perspective to the industry.

Tracey Graham of Abercromby Vending Ltd

Tracey and her brother Thomas, a vending engineer, started the company in 2005 and right from the outset their aim was to fill a huge gap in the market for fresh, homemade food sold through vending machines. Abercromby is Scotland’s first and exclusive fresh food vending company. They see themselves first and foremost as a catering service, with the vending machines being just a way of delivering their products to the end consumer.

Tracey explained how they got involved with the healthyliving award: “We began working with catering staff at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and they assured us that our food offer was really healthy, and suggested that we should go for the award. As our food is all prepared and cooked in our own purpose-built kitchen, it was just a case of sourcing the right ingredients and making sure we maintained the healthy emphasis throughout our entire range.”

The main focus is on food such as sandwiches, salads, pasta, homemade soup and hot meals. Where appropriate these are packaged with full instructions for heating in the microwave oven which is part of the vending suite. The machines are often replacing a canteen service, so they offer a full range including snacks and hot and cold drinks as well.

Tracey continued: “The machines, based in clients’ premises throughout the west of Scotland, are freshly stocked each day from our refrigerated vans. What goes into the machines is all under our control, so we can ensure that at least 50 percent of the products will be healthier. The positioning of the items within the machines is carefully planned, so that the healthier options are always at eye level and prominently displayed.”

Tracey is delighted to have gained the award: “It’s fantastic! We’ve worked tirelessly on this over the past year and the award is one of the best things we’ve ever achieved. Vending gets a bad press, but it’s high time we represented health and wellbeing in the vending industry as it’s a perfect opportunity to market healthier food to a captive audience.”

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issue twenty-two:
May 2012
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The healthyliving awardNHS Health Scotland - Scotland's health improvement agencyHealthier Scotland - Scottish GovernmentHealthier Scotland - Scottish Government