Why vending machines are gaining popularity again around the world
Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2025 7:01 am
Since the pandemic began, non-traditional and niche vending machines, which typically offer high-quality and specialized products, have begun to gain popularity. They sell everything from false eyelashes to prescription drugs. We explain why they have become popular and how they are fighting for a sustainable future.
Pandemic and the need for contactless service
Milk Shack is an Irish company that sells milk in a vending machine under the Wholey Cow brand in recyclable glass bottles of 0.5 and 1 liter. Customers are offered 12 flavors, from chocolate and banana to salted caramel.
The vending machine opened during the lockdown in late b2b email list March. “It was a huge success for two months, with a line of 80-90 people every day,” says Thomas Smith, a dairy farmer in County Louth, Ireland.
Smith, who runs 180 cows with his two brothers, says customers are loving the new local product. Many farmers from other parts of the country have come to Louth to see the machine for themselves and have since followed suit.
The pasteurization equipment is supplied by Unison Process Solutions, and the vending machine is supplied by DF Italia. Their cost is $58,000-69,000. Smith is not the only small business owner giving a second life to vending machines during the pandemic and restrictions on traditional commerce.
Since the beginning of the quarantine, traditional vending machines that serve offices, schools and hospitals have started to suffer losses. In the UK, about 5,000 of the 24,500 employees who service them have been laid off. At the same time, niche vending machines with high-quality and specialized products are gaining popularity.
Pandemic and the need for contactless service
Milk Shack is an Irish company that sells milk in a vending machine under the Wholey Cow brand in recyclable glass bottles of 0.5 and 1 liter. Customers are offered 12 flavors, from chocolate and banana to salted caramel.
The vending machine opened during the lockdown in late b2b email list March. “It was a huge success for two months, with a line of 80-90 people every day,” says Thomas Smith, a dairy farmer in County Louth, Ireland.
Smith, who runs 180 cows with his two brothers, says customers are loving the new local product. Many farmers from other parts of the country have come to Louth to see the machine for themselves and have since followed suit.
The pasteurization equipment is supplied by Unison Process Solutions, and the vending machine is supplied by DF Italia. Their cost is $58,000-69,000. Smith is not the only small business owner giving a second life to vending machines during the pandemic and restrictions on traditional commerce.
Since the beginning of the quarantine, traditional vending machines that serve offices, schools and hospitals have started to suffer losses. In the UK, about 5,000 of the 24,500 employees who service them have been laid off. At the same time, niche vending machines with high-quality and specialized products are gaining popularity.