Vending Machines can come in a lot of handy some days, whether its on your way to work, or a late night in the hotel. those tall standing machines have always been there to help you with a little snack or a refreshing drink when you need it.
But the purpose of those machines far exceeds the realm of just snacks and drinks, Lets look into some weird examples.
On Monday I asked listeners if they could have a vending machine that could dispense ANYTHING what would it be? Most of the answers were food related, from fresh fruits to a fully cooked meal. Which believe it or not, those do exist! Well not to the full extent of making you a Yorkshire Pudding, but depending on the business it’s in vending machines do have fresh fruits and vegetable related products!
A Company called PizzaForno makes vending machines that will make and bake a full pizza for you using fresh ingredients. Over the years they’ve been shredding across North America, as far west as Vancouver, and so far as far East as Ottawa. Could you imagine telling someone “it’s not delivery, it’s vending machine!”? You’d probably get a few weird looks!
Away from food and south of the border, some US states have ammunition vending machines. They currently exist in Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado.
Depending on where you are in the world, you may also run into Umbrella vending machines. Let’s face it, most of the time when someone buys an umbrella, it’s because they forgot theirs at home and it went from a nice day to an absolute downpour by the time they were headed outside again. Most of the time these machines can be found in airports, train stations, or other transit centers.
But those are some pretty tame examples, what about the WEIRD ones?
There are vending machines that dispense Live Crabs in China.
In Los Angeles you can find a Caviar vending machine that also sells truffles and other highly priced foods.
But personally my favourite example, there are vending machine bars in Japan, I’m talking both food AND drink!
Given the chance, would you try any of these? I might try the bar one day, but I certainly draw the line at live crabs!
