Drink Vending Machines with New Functions Emerging in Japan

July 30, 2018

Tokyo- Major Japanese beverage makers are adding new functions to soft drink vending machines, as sales through vending machines are dropping due to an increase in people who buy drinks at convenience stores.

Suntory Holdings Ltd., in collaboration with restaurant booking website operator Gurunavi Inc. has launched a drink vending machine that allows users to place orders for bento meals that are prepared by nearby restaurants and delivered by lunchtime.

The new machine targets office workers too busy to go out for lunch. Suntory aims to set up some 1,000 units at offices, hoping that office workers will buy drinks in addition to bento meals.

DyDo Drinco Inc. started in 2015 to place umbrellas next to vending machines to lend them out free of charge in the event of sudden rain, in a bid to bolster sales through vending machines.

According to a survey by the subsidiary of DyDo Group Holdings Inc. in the Kansai western region, about 70 pct of vending machine-attached umbrellas were returned after being borrowed.

In April this year, Asahi Soft Drinks Co. launched a vending machine that offers its popular "Mitsuya Cider" carbonated drink at subzero temperatures.

Amid violent heat this summer, "subzero machines helped boost sales by as much as ninefold," said an official of the subsidiary of Asahi Group Holdings Ltd.

Meanwhile, Kirin Beverage Co. has developed a security camera-equipped vending machine in collaboration with the Metropolitan Police Department's Nishiarai station in Tokyo's Adachi Ward.

The company, under the wing of Kirin Holdings Co. plans to place 30 camera-equipped vending machines in the Nishiarai police district to examine crime prevention effects.

"We hope to eliminate blind spots by installing the machines along school routes and in parks," said Takao Fukuyama, chief of the Nishiarai police station.

According to the research institute Inryo Soken, drink sales through vending machines slumped about 30 pct over two decades to about 530 million cases in 2017. A case is equal to 24 500-milliliter bottles.

The number of vending machines is leveling off in Japan. The vending machine drink market "has reached saturation," a Suntory official said. Jiji Press