Daalchini Deliberates The Importance Of Vending Machines In The Post-Pandemic World

Prerna Kalra, Co-founder and CEO of Daalchini Technologies hosted the webinar wherein Akshay Arora, E&Y, Sitanshu S, Cushman & Wakefield, Rajat Khatri, Genpact & Amit Khanna, Head Commercials & Facility, Times Internet, JUST participated. 

At the webinar, the panellists shed light on the below mentioned key points:

Growth of Vending Machines in the Post-pandemic world

Vending Machines as a solution to provide safe and hygienic food

No-human intervention and cashless payments are revolutionizing corporate cafeterias

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in the food industry

Challenges for the companies to provide their employees with general food facilities in this no-touch culture and solutions by vending machines

They also highlighted that Fresh Food addiction, sustainable packaging, Nutrition diet provided by the vending machines and Supply Chain Development to add more use-cases can upscale the use of vending machines in India.

Key insights: Why Vending Machines?

With vending machines gaining popularity by the day, the market potential is enormous. The Indian market is now ready for smart vending machines and so is the world.

The market of Vending machines in India is expected to witness substantial growth of 14.9% CAGR during 2020-2026. With around 40 thousand hospitals, 555 thousand workplaces, 113 thousand public places (Metro, Railway stations, etc.), 249 thousand factories, 220 thousand ATM locations, 630 thousand residential (apartments, PGs, hostels) it is a severely under-tapped market space and has about more than 6 million possible locations to install vending machines across the country.

These are just the initial numbers and with technological advancements happening every day, the market potential is tremendous. The increase in organized retailing across malls and multiplexes, BPOs, IT, and ITES industries in India will fuel demand for vending machines.

Additionally, people being more cautious towards social distancing and safety post-pandemic, the increased use of vending machines in public infrastructure and offices would further drive the demand for India’s vending machine market over the coming years.

With offices opening, Daalchini has witnessed tremendous demand since the pandemic. It has installed its vending machines in offices like Reliance, Vodafone, Times Internet, E&Y, Snapdeal, OLX, OYO, Genpact, Cushman & Wakefield, MX Player, Samsung, Vivo, Paytm, Optum, Thales, Smartworks, Housr, Whirlpool, L’Oréal, Redtape, etc.

Prerna Kalra, Co-Founder & CEO of Daalchini Technologies stated, “Even before the pandemic began, our focus was on building smart vending machines with healthy food products. The pandemic gave this initiative a big push. And, now that offices are reopening, we are seeing a surge in demand from companies across the country. Vending Machines are changing the landscape of corporate cafeterias and playing an important role in ensuring safe and hygienic foods in this post-pandemic era, to say the least.”

Factors that will accelerate the growth of vending machines in India according to the Experts:

Rajat Khatri from Genpact said,” As the vending machines are experiencing tremendous growth in India, it is time to add more varieties to cater to larger customers. So, to reach out to a wide number of audiences, adding more and more variety will act as a catalyst for the growth of the Vending Machines.”

Akshay Arora, E&Y, said, “ With people being more concerned about the environment and the government pushing for no-plastic use, vending machines should be also made more sustainable and environment friendly by reducing the use of plastic packaging.”

Sitanshu S, Cushman & Wakefield, said, “We can improve the growth of vending machines by adding more and more nutritionist food options to serve customers who are more fitness-oriented. So, adding richer nutritionist food options can attract several audiences and boost the growth of vending machines pan India. “

Daalchini already has 700+ smart stores in 15 cities and more than 1.6 lakh Monthly-active-users. It also has 200+ franchises and 65+ brands and Cloud Kitchens selling on its platform.

Daalchini Technologies provides instant, affordable, healthy home-cooked food, snacks, ready-to-eat products, beverages and healthy food options to corporate employees through IoT-enabled ‘phygital’ (physical+digital) vending machines. It serves 100+ start-ups, co-working spaces, large MNCs, hospitals, educational institutes, and residential complexes. Daalchini is a brand of full-stack smart retail offerings that cater to on-the-go food consumption with a specialized supply chain designed to serve the 6-meal-a-day needs of our customers. Its product suite has a complete platform to launch vending machines, micro-markets, automated kiosks, and mobility solutions.