Published: 26th January 2023
When it comes to offering food and drink to your employees, there is now a wide range of options available, all offering convenience, style and choice. Many businesses find themselves choosing between installing vending machines and micro markets instead of the traditional canteens as a more modern and cost-effective way forward, but how do you choose which one to have?
Both options are convenient, quick, and hygienic making them incredibly popular and it can be difficult to choose between them. Here, we take a look at the benefits of both vending machines and micro markets to help you weigh up which one will work best for your business.
A micro market is often set up to look like a small shop, but it can be completely unstaffed, keeping your costs to a minimum. It is made up of a range of vending machines that offer hot and cold food and drink at the touch of a button.
This allows you offer refreshments on a much larger scale, which means you can incorporate a wider range of choice. It means that staff can take their time to browse through the different options, choosing what they want and paying through either contactless card payments or through a dedicated pre-paid staff card. This gives it the feel of a shop and a more relaxed experience for the users.
These micro markets can be fully branded to match your business so that they can look smart and professional, but they do inevitably need more space. They are a great option in the place of a full cafeteria, and whilst they might need more management time than normal vending machines, they will still use up a lot less time than a fully staffed kitchen or shop.
As a micro market is much bigger and can carry far greater amounts of stock, it does mean that the initial outlay and restocking costs are likely to be much higher. As sales start to come in, it can begin to pay for itself, but it will need a greater amount of capital in order to get started.
We are all familiar with vending machines, and they can be incredibly useful in the workplace. Setting up one or two can mean that your staff can quickly and easily access what they want, although it might mean that you have to limit the choices on offer.
Vending machines can now stock a wider range of cold drinks and snacks, but they can also cater for the hot drinks market, offering barista style coffee, hot chocolate and even soup. This can be incredibly popular in a busy workplace and is a fantastic way to keep everyone happy.
In some cases, vending machines can be relatively small, and are perfect for businesses with limited space. They can be positioned in a designated break area, or dotted around the business in corridors or other communal areas without the need for you to rearrange any layouts.
As you might imagine, vending machines are also much cheaper to install, and can be purchased, leased or hired, meaning that you are not necessarily committed to having one there forever if you decide that you do not like it.
Both micro markets and vending machines are great when it comes to offering your employees a range of food and drink in an instant, and this can play a big part in employee productivity and satisfaction. This often depends on the numbers you are catering for and the space you have available, so take your time to determine what will work best for your business.
If you’re interested in investing in either a Micro Market or a Vending Machine for your workplace, then you can browse our stock here at Cema Vending! If you see something you like, please contact us today via email sales@cemavending.co.uk or on 01157 845 845 and we’ll be happy to assist you.
