ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maybe you can't put a price on good health or even a little peace of mind, but an Annapolis company is starting with $1.45.
That's the average price of the healthy snacks — fresh-cut pineapple slices, carrot sticks, organic fruit juices, kettle corn and multigrain bars — Vend Natural Inc. stocks in its vending machines dispersed around the country.
The machines themselves are designed to be healthy also for the environment, made from recycled materials and energy-efficient lights, glass and insulation.
Just weeks ago, the 3-year-old business announced a merger with Vend Natural Middle Atlantic to form what may be the biggest healthy and organic vending machine company in the United States.
Company officials, who will operate out of hubs in both Annapolis and Ventura, Calif., are hoping to profit on a growing demand for healthy snack alternatives.
Despite the economy, company officials anticipate that consumers are willing to spend a few extra quarters for their products than what they would on junk food.
"People recognize that eating healthy costs a little more," said William H. Carpenter Jr., president and managing partner of Vend Natural. "Up until recently, you didn't have the opportunity when you were in school or at a public event to get something healthy.
"I've done it many times while sitting at a swim meet. You end up grabbing something from the machine because it's all that's there."
School cafeterias, hospital waiting rooms and office lunch lounges are the company's targets for establishing new contracts. Locally the machines have made their way into the emergency room of Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis and the dining hall at Severn School in Severna Park.
Carpenter said the company is about to finalize two large federal contracts, one in Annapolis and another in Washington, D.C., though he would not disclose the details in advance.
Currently Vend Natural has 381 machines in use throughout 20 states, with more of them being assembled every day in a Midwest factory, Carpenter said.
The perceived demand is centered on First Lady Michelle Obama's campaign to end childhood obesity in a generation and the White House's focus on American health care, executives said.
Nutrition snack sales were actually down 4.5 percent in 2008 from the previous year, according to industry statistics, even though machine operators increased the amount of healthy snacks they sold over that same time by nearly 3 percent.
Jackie Clark, a spokeswoman for the National Automatic Merchandising Association, said Washington, D.C., is definitely putting pressure on the industry.
On March 23, President Barack Obama signed into law a bill that requires operators with more than 20 vending machines to post calorie information for the food and beverages they sell near their machines' selection buttons. The Food and Drug Administration has one year to figure out how to implement the regulations.
In the meantime, the manufacturers are responding to the new directives already. Clark said at the association's annual trade show, which took place in Chicago just a few weeks ago, companies introduced machines with technology to digitally display the calories and ingredients of selected items.
Investing in new technologies, however, may not be an option for some vending businesses, as the economy has significantly withered sales. Automatic merchandising sales dipped 5 percentage points in 2008, ending a four-year growth trend, according to the 2009 "Automatic Merchandiser" report.
Vend Natural, however, is trying to be at the forefront of an anticipated market shift, Carpenter said. He believes consumers — especially the parents of young consumers — are demanding more options.
The business has agreements with a Florida school system in Miami-Dade County and two school districts, Mt. Lebanon and Charleroi, in Western Pennsylvania. Company officials said they are in talks with Baltimore schools right now as well, a system that has removed almost all of its standard vending machines except a few in high schools.
For Terry Del Prete, business manager for the private Severn School, the concept of a health-food vending machine was appealing, even though public-school nutrition campaigns don't affect the school. In February he had one of the six vending machines already on the premises swapped out for a Vend Natural machine.
"We're actually evaluating whether we want to add another one," he said.
Del Prete said faculty members are enjoying it, and students are gradually taking interest in items as well, such as a smoothie-like drink.
Because the machines are not owned by the school but contracted, the school didn't have anything to lose in trying something new, he said. With most vending machine contracts, the schools receive just a small percentage of the sales.
"It's not like video games at a video store, where not everyone likes PacMan so get rid of PacMan," Del Prete said. "The goal is not to make a boatload of money off of the kids, so for us, it's, 'Let's give it a try.' We're about creating options."
Getting a kid to choose bananas over bonbons may pose some challenges, but Del Prete said he's observed some clever strategies in Severn School's new vending machine. For example, a drink called The Switch has the appearance of another Red Bull or Rockstar energy drink with its tall, thin aluminum can. In actuality, it's just a kiwi-berry fruit juice.
"I think the natural companies and vendors are getting smart with their packaging," he said. "Who's going to gravitate to something unless it has cool packaging?"
