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Microsoft Surface tablets and RFID tags power LeanBox kiosks

May 13, 2014

Needham, Massachusetts-based LeanBox is supplying self-service healthy food kiosks equipped with Microsoft Surface Tablets, RFID-tagged products and contactless membership cards.

LeanBox’s flagship product is called fyfo, which stands for “for you, for others”, Shea Coakley, LeanBox’s co-founder and CEO, explained in a video.

The “for you” refers to the benefits of healthy food delivered without lines and the “for others” refers to donations that LeanBox makes to the Greater Boston Food Bank every time a sale is made.

A typical fyfo set-up consists of two locked refrigerators, with a payment kiosk between them. The set-up, taking up as little as 7 feet by 4 feet, is particularly popular with 24X7 locations, Coakley said.

The fyfo kiosks are equipped with a card swipe for credit cards payments. Customers can also create an account using the Microsoft Surface Tablet and charge a contactless membership card from their credit card. A stack of contactless membership cards is provided at each LeanBox kiosk for customers to link to their LeanBox account.

To make a purchase, customers tap their membership card in order to open the refrigerators for 90 seconds. They then pick up their food and walk away. The kiosk registers information from the RFID-tagged products that have been removed and deducts the purchase amount from the customer’s account.

Coakley said LeanBox has patented back-of-house technology that allows it to know what is in every machine, what needs to be restocked or moved elsewhere, and what has expired. A fleet of refrigerated delivery vans re-stock fyfo units with products from local food suppliers daily.

Game Plan

In April, LeanBox signed an agreement with Game Plan Holdings, a direct-to-consumer nutritional supplement company, to offer Game Plan's Focus Food at all LeanBox locations.

Focus Food is an all-natural and gluten free caffeinated protein bar.