A combi vending machine puts snacks and drinks in one machine. That solves the familiar picture of two machines side by side, from two suppliers, with two half-full cabinets. Until someone wants to eat something that has to stay cold: a combi’s chilling is usually not made for that.
A combi saves space and admin, because you have one machine and one supplier to deal with. For a site where people pop in briefly and mainly want something between meals, it is a reasonable choice. It prevents what happens at many sites after a few years: a snack machine appears next to the drinks machine; see drinks vending machine for business.
The limit is the chilling. The drinks section is chilled, the snack section often not or only partly, and the dispensing drops products. A salad or a meal does not fit in that.
| Separate snack and drinks machines | Combi machine | Smart fridge | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Space | Two machines | One machine | One cabinet, half a square metre |
| Chilling | Drinks only | Mostly drinks | Fully chilled |
| Fresh food | No | Hardly | Yes: meals, salads, dairy |
| Dispensing | Product drops | Product drops | You take it yourself |
| In an SME | Often too much machine | Suits few people and office hours | Suits shifts or no food nearby |
| In a warehouse | Snacks do not cover a shift | Same | A meal for people who lift and walk |
What a smaller business also weighs up is covered in smart fridge for SMEs; what a warehouse team needs, in smart fridge for a warehouse.
If most of this is true, a combi is honestly enough. For an office, a comparison with fruit bowls and snack drawers is in office snacks.
If there is a late or night shift, nothing nearby, or the machine replaces lunch, a combi falls short, because then a meal has to fit in it. What can go in a fridge cold next to soft drinks is covered in healthy drinks at work.
What a chilled fridge costs compared with a combi depends on your people and your hours. The factors are in what a smart fridge costs.
Usually partly: the drinks section is chilled, the snack section often not or only to a limited extent. That is why it mostly holds long-life products. For fresh food you need a fully chilled machine.
Rarely. They have to stay chilled and must not drop when dispensed, and a combi is not made for that. In a smart fridge, sandwiches, salads and meals sit next to the drinks.
They take up roughly the same space. A smart fridge needs half a square metre plus free space to open the door.
Yes. Some sites keep the combi for snacks and put the fridge next to it for meals. After a few weeks you can see what is taken where, and then you decide whether both are needed.
You do, or an operator if you bring one in. The same goes for a smart fridge you buy or rent, with sales per product to guide restocking.
Eight short questions about your site. We tell you whether a combi is enough or whether a chilled fridge would serve you better.
Takes about 90 seconds · no obligation · no contact details until the last step