A local entrepreneur is taking convenience to a new level with his plan to install grocery vending machines in Metro Vancouver condos.
But Happy Vending owner Jason Moyal doesn’t think the futuristic machines, which are stocked with staples like milk, eggs and coffee, will make Vancouverites lazier.
He hopes it will save them time – which they can use to, say, work out – while offering up healthy food options.
“We bring the grocery store into your property. Let’s say that you live in a high-rise building and you want to start your Sunday brunch and you need your milk or eggs or bacon,” says Moyal. “You will have the opportunity to just go downstairs to the lobby and swipe your credit card and get all the essential groceries that you need.”
Moyal is installing his first two machines at buildings in Yaletown and Burnaby in January. Modelled on similar machines found in Europe, the grocery vending machines will be installed exclusively in Metro Vancouver high-rises before Moyal turns his attention to the rest of Canada.
“In Canada where it’s cold, where it’s minus 20, minus 30 degrees, people don’t necessarily want to start their car and go to the nearest grocery store,” he says.
Making things even more convenient is an app Moyal is developing for residents who live in buildings with Happy Vending machines.
The app will list all of the products currently stocked, and will eventually allow residents to pay for items using ApplePay.
For those less inclined to order groceries from a vending machine via their smartphone, machines accept more tried-and-tested forms of payment including cash, credit and debit.
It might sound like a dream for those too busy to shop, but the forward-thinking idea isn’t without its challenges.
“One of the biggest questions we get is ‘How do you track the inventory?’” Moyal says. “How do you know if milk expires in four days or not? Really, I think that’s the biggest issue everyone had.”
But technology in the machines can tell when items are set to expire, and Moyal says he can apply a discount to encourage people to buy them. If an item is within days of expiring, he says he’ll swap it out entirely.
“Just from my iPhone, I can see everything about the machine,” Moyal says.
He hopes to install between six to 10 of the machines throughout Metro Vancouver in 2015. “We don’t want to spread too big, too thin, because this is really a pilot program,” he says.
Those wanting a grocery store in their apartment lobby should talk to their strata, Moyal says. And when it comes to choosing what to stock them with, condo dwellers can have their say.
In addition to researching the top-selling items in corner stores, Moyal says his company will send a survey to all residents to give feedback on what products they want.
For those worried that food prices will be too high, the owner says costs will be “very competitive” with local corner stores.
