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AirVend helps Fresh Healthy Vending machines comply with school food regulations

April 28, 2014

U.S. healthy vending franchisor Fresh Healthy Vending is adding touchscreen cashless payments devices from AirVend to its Combo machines.

The AV5 Android-based point-of-sale devices can be retrofitted to all vending machines to display nutritional information for school snacks in keeping with USDA regulation, Fresh Healthy Vending says.

New nutrition standards contained in the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act require all U.S. schools to sell only food items that meet certain requirements concerning calories, ingredients, sodium, fat and sugar. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration have issued legislation that would require operators of more than 20 vending machines to post the calories for every item in the machine.

The AV5 displays nutritional information for each product inside the vending machine, and gives consumers the ability to pay with a mobile phone or credit card as well as a digital coupon or QR code. Its touchscreen can also provide vending machine owners with real-time sales information and inventory data.

AirVend also offers advertising options that can be customized by location.

"Now our franchisees can add the point-of-sale devices to vending machines being delivered to new school contracts, ensuring they abide by the new USDA guidelines," Alex Kennedy, Fresh Healthy Vending's CEO, said in a statement.

Kennedy said that adding AirVend's AV5 device to Combo machines will help Fresh Healthy Vending secure school installations for franchisees.