82 Business View - February 2016
Fresh Healthy Vending
Leading the revolution for healthier drinks and snacks
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, more than one third of the country’s
adults are obese. Obesity-related health conditions
include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and
certain types of cancer - some of the leading causes
of preventable death. Childhood obesity is also a seri-
ous problem in the United States. Children and adoles-
cents aged 2-19 years have an obesity rate of about
17 percent – that’s 12.7 million American children
who are clinically overweight.
While the causes of obesity are complicated and di-
verse, it is commonly accepted that poor nutritional
habits, especially the intake of too much high-calorie
“fast” and “junk” foods, contributes mightily to un-
healthy and unnecessary weight gain. In contrast, eat-
ing less-processed foods that contain fewer refined
sugars, fewer starches, salts, and fats, and thus, fewer
empty calories, is a recipe for a healthier, leaner body.
In addition, junk foods are often rife with artificial
sweeteners and colorings, and added caffeine and
preservatives – no boon to good health.
Historically, the vending/automatic merchandising in-
dustry has been complicit in the distribution of less
than healthy, obesity-enhancing products: candy, so-
FRANCHISE
