In 2013, Luke Saunders, a traveling salesperson, set out to find a better way to provide healthy food to on-the-go people like himself. His solution? Farmer’s Fridge: a vending machine that could dispense fresh, nutritious meals. He started with a single vending machine in Chicago. Today, the company has a growing network of more than 1,700 access points in 16 states.
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“Our whole mission is making healthier, fresh food more accessible, which includes convenience, price, and taste,” says Saunders. Each temperature-controlled vending machine is filled with a rotating menu of over 25 items, including salads, protein bowls, wraps, snacks, and breakfasts, all made in a central Chicago kitchen seven days a week. On any given day, each unit offers items like elote salad with fire-roasted corn, Thai noodle bowls, chips and guacamole, blueberry-chia overnight oats, and high-protein options like a chicken Cobb salad.
In addition to being delicious and nutritious (salads and bowls contain a full serving of fruits or vegetables), each meal has a tiny carbon footprint, with the goal of zero food wasted. One hundred percent of production waste is composted, and surplus meals are donated whenever possible. Each meal is packed in a 100% recyclable, BPA-free plastic jar, which customers can recycle directly in the vending machine they bought from. The machines have a patented predictive algorithm that lessens waste by analyzing what is most frequently purchased at any given fridge. “Since the early days, sustainability has been a priority for our business, and it will continue to be,” says Saunders.
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While you can now find Farmer’s Fridges in offices, hospitals, universities, and airports, they’ve been especially welcome at the latter, where rising food and labor costs have led to astronomical prices at most food venues. Typically, an airport meal is 10% more expensive than in the surrounding area. In contrast, an average Farmer’s Fridge meal costs $7.50. (And with Farmer’s Fridge, you can preorder your meal via mobile app or order it directly on the vending machine’s touch screen — no waiting necessary.)
For the next chapter of Farmer’s Fridge, Saunders wants to reach communities that suffer from a lack of nutritious and affordable food options, starting with neighborhoods that have been identified as “food deserts.”
“Our goal is to make fresh, healthier food as convenient as a candy bar — and part of that mission is making Fridges accessible to the people who would benefit most.” The company has set a goal of having at least 15% of Farmer’s Fridges installed in underserved neighborhoods by 2030. “What enables Farmer’s Fridge to thrive in food deserts is our ability to serve healthy food 24/7 without relying on a large space, staffing, or an on-site kitchen,” he says. “[Each unit] only needs an electrical outlet to open for business.”
As we face an ever more challenging landscape to find healthy food at a reasonable cost, Farmer’s Fridge is becoming a key part of the solution with affordable, convenient, nourishing food — all found in a vending machine.
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