Best-Selling Vending Machine Items in 2024

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in May, 2023 and was updated for accuracy.

The global vending machine market is booming, and grew at a compound annual growth rate  (CAGR) of  11.5% from 2022 to 2023. There’s no better time than now to own or start a vending machine business.

Of course, along with this growth, some changes are also taking place as the vending industry develops and responds to larger market trends. Certain products and practices are becoming more popular and trying them out is likely to provide a greater return on investment (ROI).

In this article, we’ll share the best items to sell in a vending machine in 2024, including the most popular snacks and drinks for vending machines. We’ll also discuss some larger vending machine market trends you should know about.

Top Vending Machine Products in 2024

Below, we explore the best vending machine products to stock in 2024 in a variety of categories.

Best Vending Machine Snacks

Snack and drink machines make up the largest share of the U.S. vending machine industry, and they’re continuing to go strong in 2024. Some of the most popular snacks for 2024 include

  • Chips and pretzels – Lay’s, Pringles, Ruffles, Cheetos
  • Candy and gum – Skittles, M&Ms, Starburst, Juicy Fruit
  • Chocolate bars – Snickers, Kit Kat, Milky Way, Hershey’s
  • Crackers and cookies – Ritz, Oreos, Cheez-Its, Nutter Butters
  • Energy and granola bars – Clif Bar, Nature Valley, Kind, Lara Bar
  • Nuts and seeds – Planters, Fritos, Sunflower seeds, almonds
  • Popcorn – Act II, Pop Secret, Orville Redenbacher, Smartfood
  • Pastries and doughnuts – Hostess, Little Debbie, Krispy Kreme, Dunkin’ Donuts
  • Fruit snacks and rolls – Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Roll-Ups, Welch’s, Haribo
  • Jerky and meat snacks -Slim Jim, Jack Link’s, Perky Jerky, Oberto

Best-Selling Vending Machine Items in 2024

Most Popular Vending Machine Drinks

Cold drink vending machines made up 38.5% of total vending machines and 24.5% of vending machine sales in the U.S. in 2022, while hot drink machines made up 7% of the total with 3.5% of sales. The best drinks for vending machines in 2024 include:

  • Carbonated soft drinks – Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Sprite, Mountain Dew
  • Juice and juice drinks -Tropicana, Minute Maid, Ocean Spray, Apple & Eve
  • Water – Dasani, Aquafina, Nestle, Poland Spring
  • Sports drinks – Gatorade, Powerade, Vitamin Water, Propel
  • Energy drinks – Red Bull, Monster, Rockstar, Bang
  • Milk – DairyPure, Horizon, Fairlife, Organic Valley
  • Coffee – Folgers, Maxwell House, Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks
  • Tea – Lipton, Snapple, Arizona, Nestea
  • Alcoholic beverages – Budweiser, Coors, Miller, Corona

Healthy Vending Machine Products

One of the biggest vending machine trends in 2024 is health and sustainability, with many consumers seeking out healthier options for food and drinks. Some of the best healthy vending machine products for 2024 include:

  • Fresh sandwiches – Subway, Quiznos, Jimmy John’s
  • Frozen sandwiches – Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, Smart Ones
  • Soup – Campbell’s, Progresso, Amy’s
  • Guacamole – Wholly Guacamole, Sabra, Tostitos
  • Hummus – Sabra, Tribe, Hope

Non-Food Vending Machines

Non-food vending machines are one of the fastest-growing categories in the vending machine industry, making up 15.5% of US vending market share in 2021. Some trending specialty vending machines include beauty vending machines. The most popular non-food vending machine items for 2024 include:

  • Health and beauty products
  • Electronics
  • Over-the-counter medicines, including CBD items
  • Clothing
  • Jewelry
Best-Selling Vending Machine Items in 2024

Tress Obsessed Beauty Vending, Torrance, CA, USA

Top Vending Machine Business Ideas and Trends for 2024

In addition to certain products becoming more popular, there are also larger trends in the vending machine industry worth knowing about. These innovations can help a vending business improve the customer experience, increase sales, and optimize operations.

Vending Machine Card Readers

As consumers continue to make the shift towards cashless, the vending machine industry has responded in kind. Today, 41% of Americans say none of their purchases in a typical week are paid for using cash. This means that, in order not to lose out on business, vending machines must keep up and offer cashless payment options via vending machine card readers.

VPOS Touch is an all-in-one device that accepts multiple popular and secure cashless payment methods, including debit and credit cards, mobile and NFC payments, and prepaid cards for closed environments. Another great vending machine card reader is Onyx, a contactless card reader that also accepts all the payment methods the VPOS Touch does except for contact credit and debit cart payments. It’s easy to retrofit onto any vending machine and comes with other advanced features such as and advanced vending management system, inventory management, smart alerts, and analytics and reports. These card readers also come with marketing tools to help operators increase sales and improve customer retention.

Ask us about our vending machine card readers

Eco-Friendly Solutions

As we mentioned above, sustainability is a huge trend in the vending industry in 2024, following the general global move toward more responsible and eco-friendly business practices. Vending machine operators can enhance brand image and appeal to eco-conscious consumers through practices such as:

  • Using energy-efficient machines
  • Offering green vending machine products which include eco-friendly materials
  • Stocking sustainably and locally sourced products
  • Encouraging users to recycle by putting recycling bins close to machines and as well as using recyclable materials for different products
  • Relying on renewable energy sources

Personal Care Vending Machines

Of all of the specialty vending machine types, the beauty and personal care segment is one of the most popular. These machines are common in shopping malls, hotels, spas, airports, and beauty salons or barber shops. In 2024, demand is expected to increase for machines selling products such as:

  • Shaving creams
  • Deodorants
  • Makeup removers
  • Period products
  • Hand sanitizer

Grow Your Vending Business

The vending machine industry is growing year after year, presenting a great opportunity for entrepreneurs to start or expand their vending machine businesses. Above, we reviewed the best products to stock in vending machines in 2024, including snacks, beverages, healthy vending products, and beauty supply vending machine items.

We also discussed larger trends in the vending machine industry, such as the shift towards cashless payments and the increased focus on sustainability and eco-friendliness. Entrepreneurs who stay up-to-date with these trends and offer products and services that meet the evolving needs and expectations of consumers can maximize their chances of success in the vending machine industry.

Want to learn more about how you can stay on top of trends with our technological solutions? Contact Nayax today.

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