Supporting Small Business Through Boston Vending Machines

Our Story

Take 5 Vending first started as one man business back in 1980, founded and run by Ross Almquist, who continues to be the sole owner today. Throughout the last 40 years many things have changed in the vending industry, but one thing has not: Take 5 Vending has remained committed to providing the best vending solutions for businesses and schools around the Greater Boston, South Shore Massachusetts, Fall River, New Bedford and Rhode Island areas. Over the past few decades, we have seen a lot of changes in the vending industry from the emergence of card reader technology to the disappearance of cigarette vending machines. Sadly, we have also seen many of our competitors either go out of business or be bought out by nonlocal businesses.

We pride ourselves on being a family + locally owned and operated business based in Bridgwater, unlike our competitors who are now owned by national conglomerates.

Ross Almquist, Owner of Take 5 Vending

Supporting Small Business Through Boston Vending

If you are thinking about bringing a vending machine service into your business or school, please consider choosing us over other larger national companies. Although there are many more reasons that three, we’ll lay just three of them out right here:

-We aim to bring you the best customer service possible, with a real human answering our phones on the first call (during business hours of course).

-We support our local community through not only hiring local talent, but also through working with and donating to charities around the Bridgewater, Massachusetts area.

-We keep up on the latest beverage and snack food trends, aiming to fill your vending machine or micromarkets with the most popular and tasty treats on the market. We also take requests so that your workers can have exactly what they want in their breakroom.

Want to Install a Vending Machine?

To get started on setting up a breakroom service in your office, warehouse, or school reach out to us for a free consultation so we can see what option would be best for your space! Always feel free to give us a call at 508-697-0800 or reach out to us via our contact form on our website here.

Worker at Take 5 vending located in Bridgewater Massachusetts

Simple Ways To Get A Vending Machine In Your Office

Simple Ways To Get A Vending Machine In Your Office

While it may be relatively easy to get a vending machine in your office, it can be significantly more difficult to keep it there—particularly as an effective productivity tool. Here’s what you can do to simplify the process of getting a vending machine, maintaining it, and ensuring it boosts employee effectiveness.

Why Add Vending Machines?

Successful companies add vending machines for the same reasons they add other office tools, such as computers, comfortable seating, and ergonomic desks; It can boost productivity. When considering the simplest ways to get a vending machine, the underlying reason, productivity, serves as the foundation of your strategy.

A vending machine in the office can:

  • Keep employees from leaving your location. You’d be hard-pressed to find an employee that’s both happy and hungry. A vending machine keeps them from satisfying their hunger off-campus. As a result, they stay within a few steps of their work instead of going around the corner for a bite.
  • You provide a quick, easy, and cost-effective solution. Employees love fast, simple, inexpensive solutions and a vending machine checks off all three boxes. You save them both time and money, and that leads to a more content workforce.

Should You Purchase And Self-Fill Or Use A Service?

As mentioned above, getting a vending machine can be less complicated than maintaining it and making sure it helps productivity instead of hindering it. That is why many winning companies choose to use a service to fill and maintain their vending machines, making a provider like Take 5 Vending a simpler solution.

For example, picture the following scenario: Your employees are absolutely loving a hot new energy bar in your vending machine. They’re literally, well, eating it up. It’s a big hit around 10:00 am and 3:00 pm when people need a little boost to stay productive and on-task. But you run out. One by one, your workers start drifting out the front door and to their cars to get that energy bar somewhere else.

You can feel your productivity slipping, so you rush out the door to your local Costco, white-knuckling through the 20-minute drive. Costco has what you want and what feels like an impossibly long line. You finally check out, then drive another 20 minutes back to the office.

You then wrestle with the vending machine, opening it up, and shoving the energy bars in there. You close it up, muscle it back into place, then return, sweaty, to your desk.

How much time did you lose? How many employees left anyway? The opportunity costs of self-managing a vending machine can skyrocket over time.

On the other hand, by using a managed vending machine solution, you don’t have to worry about running out or managing the restocking process. This is because:

  • Your vendor makes sure you have the stock you need
  • Your vendor can use predictive analytics to figure out when an item is likely to run out ahead of time
  • Your vendor handles the resupply process

How To Enhance Your Vending Machine Solution

There’s a lot you can do to optimize the effectiveness of your vending machine solution, making it a flexible resource with a ton of upside potential. For example, you can:

  • Strategize the best possible location for the machine based on foot traffic and space. For instance, while a breakroom may be a strong option, another space, such as your front welcome area, may get even more foot traffic.
  • Provide funds for your employees as a perk. You can give each employee vending machine credits, encouraging them to use the machine while simultaneously showing appreciation for their hard work. The productivity pay-off can more than cover the few bucks you give each employee.
  • Issue a survey regarding the kinds of items employees want in the vending machine. Their top picks may surprise you, and you demonstrate a genuine interest in their opinions.

Getting A Vending Machine The Simple Way – What It Looks Like

With Take 5 Vending, the processes of getting and maintaining your vending machines come with only one action step on your part:

  1. You connect with Take 5, and our professionals handle the rest, including a site survey, installation with a 30-day turnaround, stocking, restocking, and maintenance.

Take 5 Vending’s machines send reports regarding current and projected inventory levels, which are used to automatically schedule resupply trips. Maintenance calls are taken care of via whichever means you prefer: email, chat, or a phone call. To learn more about how simple it is to get a vending machine in your office, connect with Take 5 Vending today.

 

Vending Machine in Warehouse

How to Get Vending Machines in the Office

Thinking About Getting Vending Machines in Your Office?

Are you considering getting a vending machine in your workplace, but don’t know where to start? Luckily, you’re not alone. Until you are at work, thinking about where to get that next snack or beverage, many people do not have vending machines at the top of their mind. You might have questions like: How much does it cost? Do I have to buy a vending machine? Can I pay for my workers snacks? Do I have to pay for my workers snacks?

We’re going to lay out the answers to all these questions below! And as always, we are more than happy to chat via phone (508-697-0800) or email about any other questions you might have.

How much does a vending machine cost?

Lucky for you, nothing! We supply all of our vending machines to businesses for free. You will never pay a “rental fee”, “setup fee or service fee when you choose to make your breakroom snacking space with Take 5 Vending.

Do I have to buy a vending machine?

Unless you want to start your own vending business, the answer is no! We provide all equipment, whether a coffee setup or vending machine, to businesses free of charge. Our business model works because you provide the space to place the machines in, while we make profit solely on what is sold through those machines.

Can I pay for my workers snacks?

Certainly! While a lot of businesses simply bring in vending machines or micro-markets for workers to purchase product themselves, some business owners want to reward their employees through providing free snacks and beverages. This can be done through a few avenues. You could opt for a pantry service where desired snacks are brought to your place of work and placed in “the pantry” of your office, then you are billed for the cost of the snacks/drinks. Another option that larger businesses opt for is the setup of a micro-market. This basically means we create a “mini store” in an area of your business where employees have access to fresh food, cold drinks, and snacks. The micro-market uses a self-checkout system, where each employee can have a preloaded “spending allowance” provided by the business to use on snacks, drinks, and other items in the market.  The last option would be to bring in a vending machine that doesn’t require payment on the front end to your breakroom, then we would retroactively bill you for the items bought from that machine.

picture of a micro-market
Picture of a Micro-Market

Do I have to pay for my workers snacks?

No, absolutely not! Businesses are doing employees a service through providing a breakroom they can obtain snacks from without having to leave the office. Many businesses opt to bring in vending machines or micro-markets and have employees pay for their own snacks as wanted.

How do I get started?!

Please feel free to visit our website at take5vend.com, visit us on Facebook, email us at tfivevending@gmail.com, or give us a call at 508-697-08000 – whichever works best for you! We are family owned and operated and have been since 1980. We are THE ONLY small vending business left in the Bridgewater/Rhode Island/ South Shore area, and truly appreciate your business.

Benefits of a Micro-Market in Plymouth

Do you wish you could offer your employees something bigger than vending machines in the break room? A micro-market is the perfect solution. It offers a wider range of snacks, beverages, and fresh food in open-front coolers and on free-standing racks. Your break room will become a welcoming space for everyone.

Here are three reasons why you should upgrade your break room with one of our micro-markets.

Flexible Plan of Attack

Each company’s break room needs are different from the time of day employees visit the break room to the room’s layout and physical location. To help meet your needs, we will customize a solution that fits your company.

For example, a neighboring business might be open during regular business hours. But your business might have a second or third shift. It doesn’t matter which shift your Plymouth employees work. A micro-market is open 24/7. It’s accessible to all employees, even those who work the second or third shifts.

Do you have a large break room that serves hundreds of employees? Maybe your company is smaller with limited space, or perhaps it’s somewhere in between. We can customize a plan that works for you. For instance, the layout of your open-concept market will be designed based on your physical space and number of employees. Is your company growing? No problem, your micro-market can grow with you.

Micro-Market Technology

In today’s changing work environment, technology must adapt to meet new demands. Likewise, technology in the break room must also adapt. Our micro-markets include state-of-the-art tools designed to create a seamless experience for your employees.

An important piece of technology is the self-checkout kiosk. Unlike a store, a micro-market doesn’t need a cashier. The kiosk also offers other features such as a touchless checkout process using mobile payment options. It can also share promotional and rewards programs with users.

Carefully placed security cameras help deter theft and keep an eye on the space. In addition, wireless technology helps us track inventory and equipment status. We use the real-time data to keep everyone’s favorite products in stock. The data also helps us figure out when it’s time to introduce new products.

Snacks and Drinks

The main purpose of a micro-market is to offer great-tasting snacks, beverages, and pre-packaged fresh food. Access to delicious on-site choices means your employees don’t have to go off-site for their lunch or coffee breaks. And, as a result, staying on-site creates many benefits, from unplanned team work to increased output.

Part of our job is to make sure your employees have the options they crave, whether it’s the latest energy drinks or specialty waters, the latest snack trends, or delicious fresh food. But don’t forget the coffee service. With most Plymouth adults drinking coffee every day, access to freshly brewed and flavorful coffee or tea is a benefit your employees will love.

For more information about our micro-markets, coffee service, and vending options, please contact Take 5 Vending at 508-697-0800 . We look forward to hearing from you.

Rhode Island Business Looking for Vending?

Rhode Island Vending

Whether you’re a factory warehouse, sales office, or manufacturing business, your employees have to eat.

Wondering what your options are as far as bringing in food for the office goes? Ordering pizza for the crew might be a tasty treat, but it’s not a practical option for everyday lunch. Going out to pick up take out is nice sometimes, but it certainly can take up more time than that 30-minute lunch break allows. Bringing in vending machines for your Rhode Island business is a great way to ensure workers can eat what they want, when they want to, in a doable amount of time during their working day.

Vending Machines Filled with Food YOU Want

We are a small, family-owned business with a passion for customer service, and we have been since 1980. This means that unlike our big competitors, we are able to communicate with you directly to ensure your needs are met. Whether that means filling an extra 2 rows with Diet Coke for the soda lover in the office, providing more healthy options for your student-facing vending machines, or servicing the business at a certain time – we want to provide you with the best experience possible.

Vending Options that Work for YOUR Rhode Island Business

Are you worried that your office is too small to fit a vending machine? Or that a drink and snack machine might take up too much space? We want to work with you to find a breakroom snacking solution that works for your business and your employees. We have plenty of options, ranging from combo machines to micro markets that can be installed in a variety of spaces.

Worried About Payment Options for Vending?

Let us start off by saying we do not charge to install vending machines. We do not charge to maintain or repair vending machines.

Worried about employees having to carry cash to use vending machines? Don’t be. Our machines are all equipped with digital payment processors accepting debit cards, credit cards, Apple Pay, and more!

Want to provide your employees with free snacks and meals? We can work out options that will allow your business to cover all costs associated with your vending machines or micro market so employees can snack freely and be thankful to their employer for letting them do so!

Give us a call today at 508-558-5033 or send us a message on our website to get started on a breakroom snacking solution for your Rhode Island based office, warehouse, or factory!

 

Vending Service Options for Providence, Warwick, and Fall River Break Rooms

Vending Service Options for Providence, Warwick, and Fall River Break Rooms

Wondering about bringing in a snack service for your business, but aren’t sure what your options are? Our job is to lay out all the vending service options for your Providence, Warwick, and Fall River break rooms. We would love to help guide you to a snacking solution that works best for all employees in the office or warehouse.

Vending Machines

Sometimes the most classic, well-known option is the one to go for: vending machines. With the ability to fill them with the snacks and beverages of your choice, vending machines provide a great option for offices that want to make on-premises snacks available to employees.  Choose from Coke, Pepsi, or other healthy beverages to make everyone in the office happy.  Don’t have cash? No problem. Our vending machines are fitted with credit card readers and are able to take Apple Pay and other EPay options. Our machines use the latest technology like infrared sensors and wireless monitoring to ensure your snack makes it in your hands every time.  Vending machines are a great vending service option for your Providence, Warwick, or Fall River warehouse to keep workers satisfied and smiling.

Micro-Markets

A micro-market is like having a mini store in your breakroom with a self-checkout. Micro-markets break out of the refreshment box with coolers and accessible shelves full of products available to the office 24/7. Each micro-market has a custom layout.  So, they can be installed into different rooms and spaces making them a flexible breakroom snacking option. Micro-markets use self-checkout kiosks that allow employees to pay for their snacks through a simple, streamlined process. Whether you want to let your employees pay for their own snacks in cash or provide an allowance to each employee through individual employee access codes, micro-markets allow you the option to do either. Interested in learning more about micro-markets? Reach out to us at 508-697-0800 or Contact | Take 5 Vending today.

Pantry Service

A lot of businesses want to provide snacks to employees as a way of showing appreciation and keeping a high retention rate. A pantry service is the perfect way to do so. With a pantry service we stock your breakroom, kitchen, or cafeteria with the snacks and/or drinks of your choice so your employees can access them as they please. We can work with you to create a delivery schedule, so your shelves never go empty. If you’d like to provide your workers with a breakroom snack service that’s paid for by the business, a pantry service might be a great option for you.

Coffee Service

From gourmet coffee to high quality teas, we have the office coffee service options to impress and inspire staff. We provide a huge variety so you can choose from national brand coffee in different roasts to teas crafted from high quality leaves and herbs.

The benefits of our office coffee service go far beyond a free cup of coffee or bag of tea. It inspires and energizes employees, cultivating creative solutions and inspiring collaborative environments. It eliminates the need for employees to leave the office for the hot drinks they desire, saving time and energy. There are dozens of choices from traditional pot brewers that serve a high volume of coffee drinks to single cup systems that office superior variety. Thinking about bringing a coffee service for the warehouse or office? We’d love to go over options that would work well for your business. Just contact us at 508-697-0800 anytime 7am-3pm, Monday – Friday OR shoot us a message on our Facebook page Take Five Vending | Facebook.

Coke vs Pepsi – Which to Put in the Office Vending Machine?

It’s one of the oldest debates in soft drink history around – the cola wars. The cola wars refer to the long-time rivalry between soft drink producers, The Coca Cola Company and PepsiCo. Whether you’re a casual sipper or a soda fiend, chances are you have a strong opinion when it comes to the Coke and Pepsi battle. The good news is whether you’re a Coke or Pepsi fan, we carry both in our vending machines so there’s no need to fret. What really separates Coke from Pepsi? And when did the so-called Cola Wars start? Read on below to find out.

Flavor

If you ask most soda drinkers the biggest difference between Coke and Pepsi, nine times out of ten the answer will be that Pepsi is sweeter. It’s not surprising Pepsi is sweeter considering it has 2 more grams of sugar per can than coke. While many people describe coke as having a vanilla flavor, Pepsi has more of a citrus tanginess to it. This citrus taste results from citric acid being one of its ingredients. 

The Start of the Coke vs Pepsi Debate

In the early 1980s, the “Pepsi Challenge” emerged as a marketing promotion from PepsiCo. The challenge originally took form in a single blind taste-test.  At malls, grocery stores, and other public locations, a Pepsi representative would set up a table with two unlabeled white cups: one containing Pepsi and one with Coca-Cola. People were encouraged to taste both colas, and then select which drink they prefer. More times than not, people were choosing Pepsi over Coke which Pepsi went on to happily feature in much of their advertising. 

“New Coke”

In response to this, the Coca Cola Company launched “New Coke’ ‘in 1985, a drink with a sweeter taste designed to mimic Pepsi’s success in the blind taste tests. Complaints started filing into the Coca Cola company almost immediately, leading to the phase out of “New Coke” in just a few months after its release. 

In Malcolm Gladwell’s 2005 book Blink, he broke down the difference in taste and how it plays with people’s taste preferences. In his research, Gladwell found that people tended to prefer Pepsi in a single sip test because naturally people are drawn to sweeter sips. That same preference to sweetness doesn’t hold up when someone drinks a whole bottle or can. This is why many users prefer the smooth taste of Coke when drinking larger quantities. Pepsi, in short, is a drink built to shine in a sip test. 

Pepsi and Coke Vending

Can’t decide between Pepsi and Coke? Wondering what bringing in Pepsi or Coke for the office would look like? We’re here to help. With Coke and Pepsi vending machines, drink coolers, and micro-markets the options are endless! Contact us today to get started on setting up your ideal breakroom space.