Ohio University has partnered up with FoodSpot to bring Microstores, food vending units offering a variety of healthy meals and snacks, to campus.
Operational this week, 13 units have been installed in Ping Recreation Center, Gordon K. Bush Ohio University Airport and soon at the Golf and Tennis Center.
Frank Pazzanese, the executive director of culinary services at OU, said each unit will be stocked with food and drinks tailored to the clientele at each location.
“We get reports every day,” Pazzanese said. “At the end of the day, by midnight, we get a report on what they sold and what they didn't sell. So we track them, and then we'll kind of come up with a basic menu. We're trying different things, but the people at the airport are different people than at Ping Center.”
Students can use their cards to connect to the machine. Then, the student can open the Microstore door and take their desired products.
Anything taken from the machine is tracked by a Radio Frequency Identification sticker that tells the machine how much to charge the student.
Pazzanese said the cheapest product in the machine is a bottle of water for around $2. The most expensive is a large sandwich for $6.75. Pazzanese said these sandwiches and salads are the same as in Boyd, Jefferson and Nelson markets.
“If you're out (at Bush Airport) and especially if you don't have a car, there is nowhere else to go and get something,” Pazzanese said. “We're trying to provide a service for our students, and the goal is not to make a ton of money, just to provide a service.”
The university is trying to go with a Costco model, Pazzanese said. The model enables lower prices and better values through maintaining low business costs.
The prices of the products in the Microstores are the same as what a person would pay at the other markets, and there has been a lot of interest in the machines, Pazzanese said.
“I was at Ping Center yesterday kind of just standing around looking at the machine,” Pazzanese said. “At least three people walked by, looked at it, read it and they're like, ‘Oh, this is interesting. This is new. Maybe I'll purchase it next time.’”
Issac Wu, co-founder and director of experience for FoodSpot, said the company has paired with other companies and universities to bring machines to them.
This includes packaging facilities in rural Arkansas, the University of California Berkeley, Occidental College, Western Wyoming Community College and the University of Alaska.
The installation of 13 units at OU is the biggest campus launch the company has done. Wu said they had worked closely with the university during the launch by helping them set up the hardware, training faculty in using the machines and offering daily help sessions over Zoom.
“The analogy we like to use is we're not just selling a toaster and saying good luck,” Wu said. “We're saying here's the program and let us partner with you on it to make it succeed.”
FoodSpot is one of two companies that uses the RFID labels to track when products are bought, Wu said. Most other companies use either cameras or weight tracking for this, which is tougher to use because of a lack of accuracy and having to consistently calibrate them.
“We're much larger from a shelf space standpoint, we're much more premium from a build quality standpoint, and we have higher security features,” Wu said.
Wu said the company's biggest goal is to provide people with accessible fresh food. FoodSpot allows the owner of the machines to choose what products go into the machines and allow for the storage of healthy, refrigerated foods.
“(Students) need fresh food during all hours that programs can't hire for all the time because maybe the demand is not so high and it is financially nearly impossible,” Wu said. “So in order to provide that fresh food accessibility without hiring a full staff, that’s why they look to smart vending.”
Davis Garner, a freshman studying business and an intern for FoodSpot, said surveys were posted online for students to give their opinions to decide what products were first put into the Microstores.
“We're going to work on gathering some intel on what students might like,” Garner said. “(The machines) are going to be full of meals mostly. It's going to be healthy meals with drinks most of the time.”
Garner said he is most excited for students to get food outside of the dining hall’s operating hours and in areas previously without food.
“Personally, that’s something I struggle with constantly almost on a daily basis because the dining hall is closed fairly early,” Garner said. “Now, when leaving Ping you can get a snack after the gym. I think that's one of the best qualities.”
Jacquelyn Middleton, a sophomore studying finance and business analytics, said she feels OU has a variety of different dining spots, but it is sometimes difficult to get food depending on where a student lives.
“After 8:30, you really can't get anything besides Earl's,” Middleton said. “I believe different places around campus it's hard to get food, like Bromley, it's very far from everything else. It's not always very convenient.”
Pazzanese said the culinary department is currently considering requests to put the machines at other locations around campus such as Baker University Center, Schoonover Hall, the School of Music and the Kennedy Museum.
“I just think (the Microstores) are something that, if proven successful, we'll deploy more,” Pazzanese said. “But, that's up to the folks. Do (students) want these on campus? People vote with action.”
