Title:

Healthy Vending Round Table

Audience:

Vending Operators, Food Distributors, Vending Product Manufacturers, and Vending Site Managers.

What:

A Healthy Vending Roundtable was convened that included representatives from nine area employers and schools that shared an interest in implementing healthier vending products. In November 2006, Steps facilitated a community workshop to bring these community partners together with representatives from the vending industry to discuss the challenges and opportunities of implementing healthier vending. Following the workshop, the expanded team - including at least seven new vending partners - continued to work collaboratively on a plan for community-wide healthier vending.

Healthier vending pilot tests were initiated at seven Clark County sites in May 2007. Participating machines contained up to 40% healthy items. Results of taste tests, surveys and sales data were collected to evaluate the program.

In August 2007, the Steps Vending Team adopted the Fit Pick™ sticker system developed by the National Automated Merchandising Association (NAMA) to identify healthier vended products. The Steps team partnered with NAMA to create a website, toolkits and collateral materials to promote and educate the public and vendors about Fit Pick™.

Result:

• Collaborative partnerships were generated between worksites, schools and their vending providers;
• Healthier products now account for up to 40% of the contents in participating vending machines compared with 5% prior to this program; and
• A collaborative working relationship with NAMA resulted in a website, toolkits and collateral materials to support the Fit Pick™ program nationwide.