Mackays has launched a bold new venture to increase market penetration for bananas in Brisbane’s central business district with the installation of a vending machine exclusively for bananas in a city food court.
“We looked around the city and could only find 67 single bananas available for sale in an area with thousands of consumers,” says the company's Daniel Mackay. “There was just a clear opportunity here.”
The vending machine stocks packs of three or five bananas, which sell at A$2 and A$3 respectively. “We looked at just stocking one,” says Mackay. “But it’s much harder to vend – it just doesn’t sit well in the spiral. We also wanted to be environmentally responsible in terms of how much packaging we used.”
The packages are specially designed to create a micro-environment for the bananas, in which they can last two to three days in the vending machine, which stores the fruit at 12°C, and another two days after purchase if the pack remains sealed.
While the banana packs sit in the machine much like more conventional vending machine products, they are cradled down to the access hatch via an elevator rather than dropped to ensure they do not bruise.
Although the company has thus far installed just the one machine, expansion is on the horizon. “At the moment we’re mainly targeting city workers with this machine, but we’re looking to install more throughout Brisbane in schools and hospitals,” Mackay tells Fruitnet. “Then we can move into other cities, Sydney and Melbourne.”
Mackays have been buoyed by the positive reception the machines have received and are delighted to provide a healthy alternative to conventional vending machine snacks. “We hope it inspires other fruit producers to do the same,” says Daniel Mackay.
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