Industry Disruptors: Farmer’s Fridge, Bevi, and ColdSnap Inspire at NAMA Panel Discussion

The ColdSnap team exhibited earlier this month at the 40 Year Anniversary of the National Automatic Merchandisers Association (NAMA) Show in Dallas, TX. Geared toward convenience services professionals, NAMA 2024 featured a New Product Zone, Imagination Way, educational sessions, plus nearly every snack and drink you could dream of!

ColdSnap’s sleek technology and decadent frozen treats are always a big draw, and this year was no exception. Throngs of people crowded the booth while our high-energy sales team dished out samples of creamy ColdSnap ice cream.

The booth wasn’t the only place ColdSnap was a hit this year. VP of Sales, Bart McGhee represented ColdSnap at a panel discussion: “Become an Industry Disruptor: New Approaches in Established Industries.” Joined by Farmer’s Fridge Founder/CEO, Luke Saunders, Bevi Co-Founder, Sean Grundy, and moderated by April Cathcart, Director of Sales, Unattended Retail at Mars Wrigley, these industry heavy hitters packed out the room. 

Want the inside scoop into this inspiring, standing-room-only event? Read on!

Farmer’s Fridge

The Farmer’s Fridge story began when Luke Saunders was travelling for work. He struggled to find healthy and convenient food options on the road. Airports were especially challenging. Now, years later, Farmer’s Fridge delivers healthy choices like salads and sandwiches, in locations where fresh fruits and vegetables are hard to come by, right from a vending machine.

Saunders’ first pilot test of the Farmer’s Fridge concept wasn’t in the perfect location, but it was enough to get some initial feedback. “For the first few years,” Saunders said, “his office was at the vending machine.” He would simply observe people interacting with the machine. Then he’d collect feedback.

Rather than disrupting the industry, Saunders emphasized bringing a complementary offering to the market. His fresh foods vending machines could add value alongside traditional vending machines with CPG products or even cafeterias.

Partnering with other food service operators and developing local relationships has enabled Farmer’s Fridge to provide the freshest foods, no matter what region of the country the vending machines are in.

Bevi

Truly a disruptor, Bevi’s goal is to eliminate single use bottles and cans. Sean Grundy observed that most people come to the water cooler with their own bottle. This observation pivoted the company from their original focus on reusability. Grundy saw the opportunity; for everything but plain water, people would need to buy a single-use plastic bottle. Then came the idea for Bevi: smart water coolers that filter tap water and transform it into an array of healthy, flavorful sparkling and still water options, on demand!

Grundy was initially surprised by feedback that Bevi water coolers would be perfect for offices. He initially tried them in gyms and schools, but when users commented that they’d be great for the office, he shifted course. Bevi’s success in the market is undoubtedly due to their commitment to designing with not only their customers in mind, but also their partners.

Additionally, Grundy pointed out that being a disruptor is hard. Innovating in the manufacturing world is expensive and capital-intensive – “no one can just create a new ColdSnap.” It’s not like software innovation, for example. It takes years.

ColdSnap

Bart McGhee emphasized conviction and obsession with a great customer experience as keys for developing ColdSnap’s disruptive on-demand frozen treat system. “With any type of tech/appliance,” McGhee noted, “you need to own up-front that stuff is going to happen. You must be resilient.” This resilience has helped power ColdSnap through two years of pilot testing and into their commercial launch.

In tune with Bevi and Farmer’s Fridge, McGhee noted the importance of gathering feedback: “Customers and partners are our best source of product innovation. At the end of the day, what’s important is the customer experience.” McGhee also stressed the importance of supporting ColdSnap’s partners and helping them be successful.

ColdSnap, Bevi, and Farmer’s Fridge all prioritize capturing data. This data helps inform product development and also adds value to customer partners. ColdSnap’s machine, for example, captures real-time data on what pods are being run on what machines, and at what time.

This insightful conversation certainly left us with lots to think about, and we hope you enjoyed reading some of the highlights. It was inspiring to share the stage with Bevi and Farmer’s Fridge, and we look forward to continuing to cheer on our fellow industry disruptors.

We are pleased to announce that ColdSnap is now available for commercial settings! Interested in ColdSnap for your business? Send us a message!

 

By Lyn Ferreira