Farmer's Fridge Among Vending Operators That Have Seen Sales Soar During COVID-19, Bloomberg Reports

Chicago-based Farmer's Fridge is one of the vending operators that has seen an increase in customers who have steered toward contactless food purchases during the COVID-19 epidemic, Bloomberg reports.

Company founder Luke Saunders said he saw the impact of the coronavirus on operations a few weeks before they became clear to the majority of the U.S. since sales were down at airport accounts, but they're now up since the company has opened new vending machines at health care facilities and field hospitals, which include McCormick Place in Chicago. He comments on trends the company has seen in customers' food selections; customers tend to buy more at a time, bowls purchases have increased and off-hours purchases have soared. The company has lowered prices at vending machines during the epidemic.

The article also mentions automatic retail operators Chowbotics, Fresh Bowl, Sprinkles and Yo Kai Express.