Sodexo’s InReach chooses Cantaloupe’s Seed platform to power self-service locations

Cantaloupe Inc., a digital payments and software services company that provides end-to-end technology solutions for the self-service economy, announced that Sodexo’s InReach convenience business has chosen Cantaloupe as its hardware provider and business platform. As part of the agreement, InReach will upgrade all 18 of its branches – including 18,800 vending machines and 1,200 micro markets – onto Cantaloupe’s Seed platform, bringing cashless payments and operational visibility to its business units. Sodexo is one of the nation’s leaders in quality, multichannel and flexible food experiences, and InReach provides a wealth of convenience solutions that meet the evolving needs of customers through dynamic spaces and food and drink options. 

“With Seed, we now have the best overall back-end solution with the ability to leverage telemetry to manage planograms, pricing, scheduling of trucks, inventories and more,” Ken Sullivan, CEO of InReach, said in the announcement. “No one else could match the capability of Cantaloupe’s Seed platform from a back-end standpoint. It helps us enable seamless digital payments for our customers and run efficient operations across all of our 18 branches. Seed has become part of the foundation we are using to build out what we expect to be a significant player within the industry – it makes acquiring and onboarding new business faster, easier and more streamlined, which also helps us reach our aggressive growth targets.” 

Cantaloupe offers a best-in-class vending management system, which supports independent and enterprise operators as they grow. The Seed platform used by Sodexo’s InReach connects self-service operators with critical insights that help streamline routes, optimize planograms and proactively monitor machine health. Pairing this functionality with cashless telemetry from Cantaloupe’s ePort card readers, Seed provides insights in real time, allowing operators to increase their operational efficiency and maximize revenue at each location.

“When Sodexo acquired Frontline Food Service (aka Accent Food Service) earlier this year, Sodexo saw first-hand how the Seed platform, which Accent/Frontline was already using, helped its business achieve success,” Jeff Dumbrell, CRO of Cantaloupe, said in the announcement. “One of the unique advantages of Seed is that it enables customers to automate daily business decisions and gain complete transparency across their entire business – enabling them to scale. The fact that Frontline had used Seed to grow into a national operator was attractive to Sodexo.” 

One of InReach’s growth strategies focuses on the acceleration of micro markets and office pantry services across their locations. InReach leverages Seed Markets in 1,200 micro markets, and Seed Delivery for managing office coffee services throughout its 18 branches. By bringing all of InReach’s business onto Seed, Sodexo has a complete view of their entire operation and overall profitability across the various business units, which is critical in scaling their day-to-day business for the future.

“Customers like InReach appreciate the ease of implementing Seed through our Seed Sync API, which they use to connect third-party vending systems into Seed for quick access to optimization tools and visibility into overall business performance,” Dumbrell added. “We know that no other system out there can do what Seed does: get the right product to the right customer at the right time and at the right place, and with the right data. Data analytics are key for Sodexo and for all our customers. We look forward to continued collaboration and innovation with Sodexo’s InReach team to improve our products and services not only for them, but for all our customers.”