Retail
'Smart fridge' helps build Coolgreens brand, offers convenient alternative
After testing a "smart fridge" last year, Coolgreens established a division that includes a marketing staff and service organization. The alternative service venue has given the company an additional venue to continue to serve customers.
May 6, 2020 by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times
Editor's Note: This is part two in a two-part series on Coolgreens' smart fridge initiative.
Twenty-twenty marks an exciting new chapter for Coolgreens, an Oklahoma City based fast casual restaurant chain, with its expansion into fresh food vending. Under the leadership of CEO Robert Lee, the company views "smart" self-service refrigerators as a way to bring its fresh-prepared, chef inspired menu items — salads, wraps, bowls, flatbreads and more — to consumers in more locations, as described in part one of this two-part series.
After testing a "smart fridge" for six months offering Coolgreens menu items at a hospital and at a stadium last year, the company established a division early this year that includes a marketing staff and service organization for its Coolgreens Markets.
Since then, the COVID-19 outbreak has forced most service companies to focus on safety and adjust to new business realities. Coolgreens, like many fast casual chains, has closed its brick-and-mortar dining rooms and is offering pickup and delivery. And the "smart fridge" has given the company an additional venue to continue to serve customers.
The company initially planned to target high traffic areas like airports, office buildings and stadiums for its Coolgreens Markets, said Todd Madlener, company president. However, the COVID-19 pandemic created opportunities in high rise apartment complexes. In April, the company placed smart fridges in two multi-family buildings in addition to an office building in Dallas.
A new division forms
The company hired Aramark and Accent Food Services veteran Mary Beth McGehee as vice president of business development to focus on developing Coolgreens Markets, along with Amanda Powell, a Modern Market veteran with experience in vending routing and logistics.
The company will have 12 to 20 employees in the smart fridge division by year's end.
How it works
The customer can browse the touchscreen menu displaying the top selling Coolgreens menu items before opening the machine's glassfront door by swiping their credit card. Once they remove their selection(s) and close the door, their purchase is completed and their credit card is charged.
Should the power go out, the machine locks automatically and stays locked when the power returns so that a customer won't be able to eat a spoiled product. The machine does not resume service until after the attendant services it.
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| The Coolgreens Market has already found a niche in office and multi-family buildings in Dallas. |
Bill acceptors can be added to the merchandisers, Lee said, but there is no plan at present to accept cash. "If we're faced with an area that requires cash, then we'll accept it," he said, acknowledging that some local governments require retailers to accept cash.
Product pricing is comparable to the restaurants, he said, but prices at some locations, such as airports, can be different based on location conditions. Pricing also varies by geography.
Securing the cold chain
Food is prepared in a central commissary — where products are packaged manually — and delivered in refrigerated vehicles daily.
"We have to make sure that our cold chain is consistent from our commissary kitchen to the smart fridge," Lee said. "All of our products are going to have a 'made by' date and a 'sell' date on them."
Location menus will be adjusted based on sales. "It's really important that every smart fridge will be connected to a central data base," he said.
A new franchise offering
The Coolgreens Markets offer an additional revenue opportunity for existing and prospective Coolgreens franchisees. Franchisees will operate a minimum of 25 smart fridges.
"Qualified franchisees will have the opportunity to wholesale product to the machines," Lee said.
"It really becomes a separate arm of their business," he said. "We don't ever want this to turn into a hobby for a franchisee. It is either a very primary part of their business or it's not part of their business."
"We've had some very strong interest so far," Lee said when asked about franchisee interest in the smart fridges.
Prospective franchisees have expressed interest in both brick-and-mortar and smart fridges while some are only interested in smart fridges. Some franchisees may choose to operate smart fridges exclusively.
There are projected sales goals based on testing which they are sharing with franchisees which Lee did not wish to divulge.
Franchisees will be able to offer customers a leasing option where the location leases the machine and buys a set number of products per week and feeds the employees for free.
The company will not provide the machines in any situation where it does not control the food replenishment.
Diverse customer needs
Lee expects Coolgreens will face as much pressure as any vending operator to share a portion of the revenue with the host location. Locations such as airports are known for requiring commissions.
"At other places, employers have seen this as a great amenity to their tenants, to their workers, that keeps employees in the building longer. They don't have to give as long of a lunch hour; it's more convenient."
From the customer's perspective, onsite meal opportunities create a safer work environment since people aren't piling into cars at meal times and racing out the parking lot.
In addition to creating a new revenue opportunity, Lee sees the smart fridge as a tool to help promote the Coolgreens brand. He plans to have 50 markets in Dallas by the end of the year.
Photos courtesy of Coolgreens.
About Elliot Maras
Elliot Maras is the editor of Kiosk Marketplace and Vending Times. He brings three decades covering unattended retail and commercial foodservice.
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