There are those moments in life when nothing but a hot, cheese-drippy, thin crust pizza is going to do the trick. But what happens when that craving hits and your local pizzeria is closed?
The problem of satisfying late-night munchies when many of the popular options have closed has been banished at one US university – the latest in a stream of fast-food-fix machines.
Cincinnati’s Xavier University has debuted what’s claimed to be America’s first ‘Pizza ATM’, ready to satisfy those hunger pangs – well, at least those of the first 70 students to rock up with their credit card or cash.
The Pizza ATM takes just three minutes to cough up a piping-hot 30-centimetre pizza at between $US9–$US10, depending on toppings. The vending machine holds 70 pizzas at a time.
Here’s how it works:
• The university catering staff prepare and cook the base and dress the pizza with uncooked toppings
• They load the boxed pizzas into the cold storage section of the vending machine
• A pale, trembling student with low blood sugar level makes an order
• A robotic plate positions the pizza in front of an internal oven
• The mechanism lifts the lid and pushes the pizza and the box into the oven and then lifts the pizza out
• The convention oven heats the base and cooks the toppings at 246°C in three minutes
• The pizza is replaced in its box and the lid closed. The product is delivered into the customer’s hunger-shaking hands through a dispenser.
The vending machine has been created by French company, , whose website describes the Pizza ATM as “the fruit of many years of research and continued innovation”.
“This user-friendly machine isn’t new on the market, nor is it a prototype. It has been successfully working for 14 years and it has been providing long-lasting reliability. It works!”
Good to know, but if it’s not new, who else produces one? There’s the British that goes the whole way from kneading the dough onwards. It claims to be “a mini pizzeria that’s open 24 hours a day”.
Italy, the spiritual home of the pizza, has also been at the forefront of the technological delivery of freshly prepared meals. machine holds more than 100 22-centimetre pizzas and cooks them (one at a time) in two minutes.
Australia’s first pizza vending machine, Pizza Gio, was installed by Bondi-based pizzeria at Sydney’s Chatswood Westfield two years ago, offering a choice between margherita and hot salami pizzas, which took three minutes to cook at $12 a pop. Bases and toppings were prepared at the restaurant and the machine was serviced twice a day.
Owner George Pompei tells SBS Food that reaction to the Pizza Gio’s launch was amazing. “People were lining up just to have a look at it and it performed really well,” he said. “We put it in place to see whether it could operate as a low-cost extension to the business.”
Mr Pompei says the vending machine was pulled out after a trial period and a new approach is being planned. “We’re now looking at additional machines to service one future location. That will make it more economical to replenish with pizzas, ensure that we can meet demand and reduce waiting times by servicing multiple customers at the same time.”
“We’re also going to ensure there is a greater choice of toppings,” he says.
He says the quality of the pizza and placement of the machines will be critical to their success. “We know how to make a quality pizza – that’s no problem… But they’ve got to be placed in an area that’s probably more 24/7 with access to plenty of foot traffic – that’s the key.”
He says he’s aiming to have three vending machines deployed later in the year or early next year.
Bread dough is proving itself adaptable in a vending machine environment with freshly baked baguettes now popping out of a dispenser in San Francisco.
evolved from a Frenchman’s frustration at not being able to find his favourite crusty loaf to his standard in the bayside city.
“I eat a lot of bread. I love it,” says chief executive and founder Benoit Herve. “The baguette is the main dish for French people.”
Monsieur Herve rose to the challenge and eventually found a micro-bakery back in his homeland. Two years of testing in France followed before Le Bread Express made its US debut.
“The concept is blooming and another location is coming soon,” Monsieur Herve says on the company . “It’s technology, but it’s also artisanal food.”
And in Los Angeles, convenience food just got even more convenient with a burrito dispensing machine. , dubbed ‘the world’s first burrito kiosk’, sells five kinds of the Mexican favourite for $US3 (plus tax) by credit card. It delivers your piping hot choice in 90 seconds.
There's even a meat vending at a convenience store in Alabama that dispenses sirloin steaks and other choice cuts.
Closer to home, the is launching vending machines that serve up everyone’s favourite.
What’s next, we wonder? An automated souvlaki seller?
