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LOOS Utrecht will soon be cycling around with an electric cargo bike filled with dispensers and scoop bins supplied by Food Dispense.

LOOS is the packaging-free, sustainable, mobile supermarket in Utrecht. Soon you will be able to do your shopping there effortlessly and without packaging.

Laurens Kok visited Food Dispense and together we compared dispensers from China with dispensers from the USA. In the end the choice fell on the dispensers from the USA because they are much more robust and offer more quality. We wish LOOS every success and hope that many customers will embrace this initiative.

The bulk food market is growing

The bulk food market is growing and more and more clients contact Food Dispense to work together on various bulk food concepts for nuts, muesli, superfoods, chocolates, sweets, toppings, fitness powders, tea, coffee beans, etc. Our clients are retailers, food service companies and brands looking for successful, attractive presentations that are well received by consumers. Among our clients are Dr Oetker, Basic Bio, Cloetta candy, Arla, etc.

There are various reasons to start implementing a bulk food section into your food store:

1. Customers like to buy the quantity they need
2. More and more customers want to save on packaging
3. Margins on bulk food are higher
4. Zero waste and less packaging shops are getting more and more attention
5. Bulk is fun to do, what you see is what you get

Are you planning to open a store, refurbish an existing shop or make some changes in your category planning? We will be happy to share over 10 years of experience in this specific market helping customers to implement from one shelf to a 10 meter bulk food wall. Please contact us at info@fooddispense.eu or call +31 573794500

  

The past years unpackaged shops appeared in big cities throughout Europe and especially in Germany new shops have been initiated. Even supermarkets more often choose unpackaged displays or shelfs. Early adopters have known it for years. Unpackaged shopping is a trend and Food Dispense gives you five reasons why.

1. We are more aware of our plastic footprint
   A term that is used more often: plastic footprint. Introduced by organisations, like the plastic soup foundation. The floating garbage dump in the north of the oceans gets a lot of attention nowadays. Who does not know the pictures of birds with belly’s full of plastic? A massive awareness and strive to produce less (plastic) waste is growing. Unpackaged shopping is a simple way to contribute.
2. We want less (plastic) garbage at home
   Separation of (plastic) garbage has increased the past few years. The government has taken action and we all became more active. A good cause, but with a downside. In Europe a home has an average of 3 to 6 garbage cans. They take a lot of space and cause other grieves, like bad smell.  Separation of waste is time consuming and complex. It make sense that we want less waste and unpackaged shopping becomes more attractive.
3. No package is next to no bag
   Since the beginning of this year shop owners in Holland are not allowed to give free bags to customers. The customers can pay for it or take their own bag. Research shows that 8 out of 10 Dutchmen take their own bag now. Before an average of 3 milliard plastic bags passed the counter. After this success less package in the shops is a next step.
4.  It is a delight to scoop and weigh yourself
   Do you remember when you were a little kid and you were allowed to scoop candies at the local druggist? Imagine you can grab and weigh all your groceries yourself? Unpackaged shopping is not only ethical responsible, but also fun and easy. You choose the exact amount of the product and only buy what you need.
5. Unpackaged shopping is conscious shopping
   It’s 5 pm and after work you stop to buy vegetables and bread. But you arrive at home with vegetables, bread, crisps, chocolate and a lot of other stuff. Do you recognize this? Shopping when hungry is not recommendable, but the package is the blame as well. It is ensures we take more impulsive actions. After all a marketing team is behind it.  Unpackaged shopping is peaceful, because there is no distraction of attractive packages. You deal with food more conscious, because you know exactly what you buy and you weigh and feel everything yourself

Do you manage a restaurant, ice cream store, hotel or any other food service company? And are you looking for a stunning and hygienic way to present food? Read on!  We will tell you how to get a neat breakfast bar, decoration table or power food section. The secret is a self-dispensing system. Dispensers allow you to sell or present unpackaged dry food in a hygienic and attractive way. What can self-dispensing do for you?

Happy customers
Instead of topping yourself or portion control, dispensers allow customers to take their own food. They can easily get the amount they want! This is fun and customer friendly.

Easier to handle for your personnel
Do you recognize this: cereals all over your breakfast buffet, sprinkles on your ice cream counter and customers touching the food? Regular packaging or food decoration methods can be messy and unhygienic.  A dispenser system is an effective way of getting the food on the plate or food item. The dispenser can be cleaned easily and keeps the product fresh. It is time-saving for your personnel.

Attractive presentation
The stunning clear curved front of the bins and wonderful counter displays look great on any buffet, counter or table. No more cartons or unattractive packages. You can choose the design that looks best for your food presentation and corporate branding is possible.

Less food waste and packaging
Too much food is thrown away and too much packaging material burdens the earth.  A growing group of customers is getting more conscious about their environmental foot print. You can help by choosing unpackaged methods of presenting food. Reduce food waste by keeping your products fresh.

In short: using dispensers will give you happy and satisfied customers that would love to come back to your food service company.

Do we have your attention?
Food Dispense offers companies in the food service industry  table top solutions to serve nuts, candy, mints, cereals, spices or any other dry goods. If you wonder how we can help you please visit our website www.fooddispense.eu

Supermarket design and merchandising of your store can make a real difference. Are you a supermarket owner and are you wondering how to increase profit? Read on

Think about the journey
You want customers to walk through your entire store to make sure they see all the products. Put the best selling products or the most essentials ones, like dairies, in the back of your store. Create a supermarket design with a right atmosphere. Things that smell good, like bread and flowers should be at the beginning of the store to attract customers. The colours of fresh fruit and vegetables will create a happy feeling and you want customers to enter the store with a good feeling.

Win the waiting game
Such an obvious one, but it still works. Place nice goodies and snacks at the checkout. Chocolate bars and candy are often bought as an impulse while waiting in line. We think that these could also be replaced by healthy snacks, like nuts or cereal bars.

Add a dispenser wall or counter
Have you ever considered a self-dispenser counter or wall to sell candy, nuts, coffee, tea, cereals or any other dry goods? The advantages of self-dispensing are multiple. They have a great and luxurious look and feel and guarantee the first in, first out principle. Customer can get just the amount they need and you save packaging. Last but not least you can buy a large amount of the product and increase margins.

If your available store space does not allow placing a big wall then please look at our store solutions. These solutions are available in different widths to match your store space. If you consider on adding dispensers to your supermarket design please visit https://fooddispense.eu/product-category/turnkey-solutions/

Which kind of tea is consumed most often?
Do you know the famous saying: “If you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are too heated, tea will cool you. If you are depressed, tea will cheer you. If you are exited, tea will calm you”? We agree! Tea can be enjoyed at every moment of the day. We have done a little research on the popularity of this drink. Which kind of tea is most popular worldwide? We ask tea lovers and this is what they say.

Mint tea
Herbal tea is popular and especially mint tea. A refreshing cup of tea with health benefits. It improves digestion and reduces nausea and vomiting. Fresh or Moroccan mint, with a bit of green tea, unsweetened or with some honey. Mint tea is an absolute favourite. It looks great, especially in a long glass.

Green tea
Pure or flavoured with jasmine, citron, cranberries or ginger. Green tea is consumed in a hundred different ways. Besides its great taste it is also popular because it is claimed to support weight loss. But for this you should drink a few cups a day over a longer period of time. Green tea is best made with water of 80 degrees, otherwise it gets bitter.

Black tea
Just like green tea and oolong, black tea is made of the leaves of Camellia sinesis, but with another oxidation and higher caffeine level. Black tea keeps its taste longer. Ninety procent of the tea sold in the West is black tea. Think about English breakfast, Ceylon, Darjeeling and flavoured tea like strawberry, tropical fruits and lemon. A positive benefit from black tea is that is contains flavonoids that decrease the risk of strokes, high cholesterol and heart diseases. Two black teas are often mentioned by tea lovers. Here they are.

Earl Grey
Black tea with oil of bergamot,  a small citrus tree which blossoms during the winter . Early Grey has a strong smell and great taste. Named after (earl) Charles Grey (1764-1845), a British (prime) minister. Known since 1820, but still popular. Nowadays made of bergamot and green tea or oolong as well.

Chai
Some love it, some hate it. But it seems that the lovers are a majority. In a few countries the word for tea is ‘chai’, but here we refer to the spicy drink from India. Black tea with spices like cinnamon, ginger, pepper, cardamom and clove. Tastes great with milk and/or honey.  A spicy drink and because of that a good substitute for coffee.

How do you present you tea?
Have you ever considered presenting your tea in dispensers? The dispensers of Food Dispense are made of UV blocking bin material that reduces the oxidation of oils to maintain the integrity of the tea. Our bins are contoured and smooth – ideally designed to avoid build-up of residue from specialty teas. Tight fitting lids ensure the freshness of your product.

Six do’s for new unpackaged stores

Are you considering opening an unpackaged store? We would love to help you! Here are six do’s that get you started.

1. Talk to people who have opened a similar store. Have a good thought about the finance and how much you need to exist for three years, because this is the period a start-up normally needs to be successful. Can you lend money from family, friends, the bank? Otherwise start a crowdfunding. That is a good way to create engagement with future customers.
2. Make sure you have the right competences in your team. Your internal and external organization needs to be in place. Think about stock, suppliers for bulk delivery, employees, decoration, promotions, commercials. Furthermore you must arrange permits and consider things like hygiene, fire safety and shelf life.
3. Be careful when choosing your location. This is the most important thing in retail. Know that a “save packaging” concept does not attract everyone to come to your store and consider a location that is already visited by potential customers. A shop in shop concept would be a good idea. Negotiate the prize and make sure you have an escape option.
4. Investigate the best period for opening, set the date and hold on to this date.
5. Start promotion before opening and communicate about your drive and mission. Give special attention to social media and online presence. Involve your customers and let them help when putting together the assortment and service.
6. Make sure the store’s neighbourhood is aware of the opening. Keep track of your customers and surprise them regularly with promotions, attractive deals or please consider a loyalty program.

Do you want to impress? Are you looking for a turnkey self dispense wall hosting a lot of bulk products? Please have a look at https://fooddispense.eu/product-category/turnkey-solutions/