August 10, 2009 | Posted by Paresh
During the weekend of August 7 to 9, I attended the Willamette Writer’s conference which was held at the Portland Sheraton. I attended because I am in the process of writing a book on the topic of Healthy Vending. There are numerous reasons for doing this, but primarily I want to share some of my knowledge and years of experience on the matter. Often times, when customers or prospective customers call us to request healthier vending, they really don’t know much of what it entails and are usually unsure as to what they seek.
We can’t blame them. There are very few resources out there. In fact, if you type in “Healthy Vending” in amazon.com or at BarnesandNoble.com, you won’t find a single book on the topic. The time for a book is ripe right now!
- Vending machines are ubiquitous – there are millions in the US
- Most people have used a vending machine and many associate vending with junk food
- $40 billion industry is shifting to include healthier options
- At least 45 states have enacted or are considering some type of vending law
- Federal legislation was introduced in Congress
- There are many books on diet, nutrition, and health … but none on healthy vending
I have been a recognized expert in the field having testified before the Oregon Legislature when the bill was being debated, as well has having stood next to the Governor of Oregon when he signed the HB2650 bill.
In my opinion, this book would be well received right now.
At the conference, I carefully preselected agents who work with non-fiction books on diet and nutrition. I registered for one-on-one meetings with three different agents. Each agent I met with gave me basically the same response —> that no one would buy such a book! I was shocked they would think that, especially given the movement in the industry and workplace.
Nonetheless, I’m determined. I will keep working on my book, and if it comes down to having to self-publish, I’ll do that!
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May 3, 2009 | Posted by Paresh
On April 30, 2009 Senators Murkowski and Harkin introduced a bi-partisan bill that”… seeks to establish appropriate school nutrition standards for
foods and beverages offered in school vending machines, stores, a la carte lines and other venues outside of the school meal programs.”
Although some states have enacted legislation (including Oregon), there are states that have not. Moreover, there is no consistency or uniformity across states or school districts. This legislation, if enacted, would standardize the program across the country and would likely supersede state laws already enacted (although if state laws are more stringent, state law would probably still hold).
Follow this link for the press release.
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April 29, 2009 | Posted by Paresh
Last year we launched a Fit Pick initiative across Clark County. I was a part of a group called Community Choices and we worked for two years developing, testing, and implementing a program to convert machines to have healthier options. My company along with other vendors on the committee started with City and County government buildings. When this program was launched last year, we received national media attention including an appearance in New York’s Times Square!
An article on this story is here.
Today, we just had our one-year reunion meeting. Things are going well. The vendors on the committee estimated that the number of machines with Fit Pick now has grown 20 or 30 fold since last year!
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April 26, 2009 | Posted by Paresh
You may wonder why I decided on the address for this site as 35-10-35.com…
Today, 35-10-35 is becoming the commonly accepted standard to categorize healthy products. 35-10-35 means a product contains:
- No more than 35% of its calories from fat
- No more than 10% of its calories from saturated fat
- No more than 35% of its weight from sugar
This is the standard that is set forth by Fit Pick, a program created by the National Automatic Merchanising Associaton or NAMA (the trade association for the vending industry). See vending.org or fitpick.org
This is also the standard that is being accepted by more and and more school districts as well as states, including the State of Oregon.
The 35-10-35 is the “base” standard and often times, other criteria may be added such as limitations for calories, sodium, trans fats, etc.
It is important to note that in almost all cases you actually have to get a calculator and calculate numbers to determine if a product meets the requirements. The %DV on the Nutrition Facts is a completely different number than what this standard is looking at.
To calculate the fat percentage, you will take the calories of fat per serving and divide by total calories per serving.
To calculate the saturated fat percentage, you will take the calories of saturated fat per serving and divide by total calories per serving.
To calcualte the sugar percentage, you will take the grams of sugar and divide by the serving size in grams.
Note, if the number of calories from fat and/or calories from saturated fat are not given, you can calculate this by multiplying the number of fat grams by 9 (there are 9 calories per gram of fat or saturated fat).
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April 23, 2009 | Posted by Paresh
Welcome to the new Healthy Vending Blog!
I got started in the vending business with one machine while I was still in high school, and have subsequently grown Courtesy Vending to be become one of the largest vendors in our market all the while continuing my education.
People keep asking me, “What is someone with a Ph.D. doing in the vending business?” It’s a tough question to answer on the surface because clearly no degree of any level is required to run a vending company. Yet, having the educational background has no doubt allowed me to build not only a successful company, but also provide the laboratory to conduct tests and trials and learn more on consumer behavior as well as the business itself.
Along the way, I have become somewhat an “expert” on healthy vending to the point where many of the inquiries on our company website are no longer from prospects, but from other people looking to get information! I decided to create this blog to share some knowledge and help feed that thirst for information. It’s interesting that even though vending is over a $22 billion industry, searching the Internet for healthy vending issues does not yield much useful results.
Today, the momentum on “healthier” vending is building. Vending operators can no longer dismiss the talks of healthy vending as yet another fad. Those that respond well will thrive. Those that fail to respond or continue to resist the movement will find themselves in a perilous position. As Charles Darwin eloquently stated, it is not the strongest species that survive, but the ones that best adapt to change.
This blog is aimed not only at the vending operator, but also to the worksites and employers, vending patrons, community advocates, product manufacturers, brokers, schools, local governments, and everyone interested in transforming “junk food” vending machines into machines that provide healthier choices as well.
I will try to stay current and post new information, new links, new products, and more as I come across it. At the same time, I will use this medium to answer questions people may have. If you do have a question, please send it to me at president@courtesyvending.com and I will do a post to answer your question!
Sincerely,
Paresh K. Patel, Ph.D.
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