Do products from healthier vending machines on a university campus sell?

Abstract

Objective

This is a cross-sectional study that compares the sales of “healthy” and “unhealthy” vending machines following the introduction of healthier vending machines on a university campus. Method: Healthy (“green” and “amber” category), competitively priced snacks and beverages in vending machines (n = 4) called Grab Goodness were placed alongside standard vending machines (n = 11). The monthly sales data from all vending machines were captured electronically for 20 months. Results: Assortment of snacks and beverages offered by standard vending machines were of low nutritional quality, with only 16% of all products categorized as “green.” The new Grab Goodness machines accounted for 28% of all vending machine purchases over 20 months, and 50% of all products purchased through these machines were “green” category items. Conclusions: The purchases of healthier snack options demonstrate encouraging patterns that support more nutritious and healthy alternatives in vending machines.

Keywords:

• Food environment
• healthy snacks
• universities
• vending machines
• young adults

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements of New Zealand, and received approval from the IRB of the University of Auckland.