Vending machines require special packaging solutions for ready-to-eat salads.

The spread of contactless shopping increases processing volumes and demands space-saving packaging. 

At 11 different locations in the Palatinate, Lisa Zapf, the managing director of Zalat-o-mat GmbH, fills vending machines with fresh, washed and packaged lettuce straight from the farm.

Today, in order to meet the growing demand of contactless shopping, the producer has to purchase a packaging solution and salad spin-dryer to complement the existing KRONEN washing machine.

The number of the vending machines which Lisa Zapf has been managing, has fairly grown in recent years. Today customers have a 24/7 access to various fresh products from the machines (juices, seasonal vegetables, ready-to-eat salads). 

Lisa Zapf was searching for a solution to effectively process the lettuce cultivated on her own - which would shorten the period between harvest and sale, in order to stock the vending machines with enough quantities of freshly harvested lettuce. 

For 12 years the family business has been washing products with GEWA washing machine. 

The entrepreneur  has made a research on the packaging machines available on the market, before making the purchase decision. It had to meet two specifics: a small to medium processing capacity is enough for the family business. And especially important is the production of packages of 100 g, 300 g and 500 g, as the most space-saving package sizes. The limited area in the vending machines should be used smartly.

In February 2020 at Fruit Logistica, she found what she was searching for at the KRONEN stand. The packaging solution was accommodated to requirements of space-saving packaging. By purchasing the packaging solution and salad spin-dryer, the processing was optimized so that the approximate 300 kilos of lettuce can now be processed effectively and freshness can be guaranteed even with increasing sales volumes.

The company replenishes the Zalat-o-mats everyday with fresh goods, whereby the products in the machine remain for a maximum of 3 days.

 To learn more about KRONEN, go to their website.