Meat+Poultry - October 2017 - 76

S M A L L B U S I N E S S M AT T E R S

"I don't believe
that we have
taken anything
away from our
store sales,
but really
added about
a 10 percent
increase in
overall sales."
- RICK REAMS

Meat vending machines
are perfect for a variety of
meat products including
sausage and bacon.

NOTHING NEW
The concept of a meat vending machine is
not new. Back in 2002, Dan Glier of Glier's
Meats Inc., in Covington, Kentucky, was the
sponsor and operator of the Glier's Goetta
Fest held on grounds near his plant just across
the river from Cincinnati. The event attracts
upwards of 200,000 people each August and
pulls in other vendors as well. Glier builds up
the inventory for his scrapple-like product for
several weeks before the festival and decided
to put the home-created vending machine into
play for "talk value." He found that people
talked about the Goetta Vending Machine and
took lots of photos of it. That image and future
conversations keep the company and the
product on their minds, he feels.
"That is worth a lot more than a flight of
radio spots," Glier asserts. "Attendees wanted
to take some of the product home as well. I
found an old soda dispensing machine and
converted it to sell 1-lb. packages of our
product. Guess you could say we built our

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76

MEAT+ POULTRY | 10.17 | www.meatpoultry.com

INTERNATIONAL INTEREST
Anthony Baechle, of Stuewer GmbH, exhibited
his Regiomat meat vending machine for the
first time at the American Association of Meat
Processors Convention held in late July in
Lexington, Kentucky.

Stuewer GmbH, RJ Meats

J
Ph: (703) 524-8200 FAX: (703) 525-8451
V FOR FAST ANSWERS TO ANY QUESTIONS PHONE
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own meat vending machine. All the packages
were the same size but we had four varieties of
flavors. They were the original, a hot version,
a low-fat turkey variety and the hottest seller,
our bacon Goetta."
Glier says things worked well for long
periods of time, but occasionally a package
zig-zagged out of alignment and would not
dispense properly. After some adjustments to
counter the dispensing problem he eventually
opted for a water-bottle style of dispensing unit
with a glass front.
"It actually had an arm that would grip the
package and take it to a tubular slide where
it would drop down for retrieval," Glier says.
"We now load the 1-lb. chubs in clear plastic
cylinders that slide down the dispensing tracks
just like a soda bottle to improve alignment."
Glier also uses a graphic hand image that
advises customers to "get Goetta." He also
takes the vending machine along when he
exhibits at food shows.
At this year's Goetta Fest, visitors
purchased 650 1-lb. rolls of Glier's product
from the machines.
"We sprung for the high-end money
changer," he explains. "It accepts $20 bills and
makes change with $5 bills and $1 'golden'
presidential coins."
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Meat+Poultry - October 2017

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