Planet Antares Vending: Serving The Ethnic Market

The recent years have seen Planet Antares vending operators on the lookout for ethnic products become successful. According to a survey, 90 percent of the vending operators believe that enough variety is being offered by product suppliers of food, snacks or beverages to meet the different customer demands.

As a result, vending operators catering to the rising demands of the ethnic market segments have a great opportunity in front of them. However, the industry still seems to be slow in recognizing the need to cater to this fast growing market.

The diversity of ethnicity in customer base is recognized by almost three-fourths of vending operators. As reported by Planet Antares vending operators, the biggest gain was in Hispanic customers.

A large number of vending operators have cited African Americans as an ethnic group being served by them. However, certain surveys have indicated that this group does not possess any particular product preferences.

Out of many Planet Antares vending operators who recognized a gain in ethnic customers, only about 40 percent of all operators have reported success with the products targeted to these customers. This implies that only a minority of vending operators have offered these products to ethnic groups.

In contrast, positive results have been reported by the vending operators who have met ethnic demands. Still, the challenge is to determine how much of the product mix should be geared to the ethnic audience when the customer base is mixed.

The salted snack segment accounts for a large portion of the ethnic products, followed by food. This category is responsible for offering the greatest product variety for several years and snack machines have more facings than any other type of vending machines.

In the cold drink category, Planet Antares vending operators have also provided ethnic choices. With the rising number of ethnic customers, vending operators will find it necessary to carry products that target them, both specifically as well as part of the larger customer audience.