Behavioral Design Strategies for Vending Machine Operation

• Give visual diagrams (such as planograms) to vendors to show them how to display healthier products.
• Place all less healthy foods and beverages in the lowest vending positions.
• Reduce the number and type of unhealthy options.
• Keep machines full, while prioritizing healthy items and minimizing waste.
• Place healthier foods and beverages at eye level or just below eye level.
• Place only healthier items at eye level. Eye level for adults is 4 to 6 feet from the ground.
  (See: Vending Beverages Figure: Row A, B, C, and D, and Vending Food Figure: Row A, B, and C.)
• Place lower-priced healthy items to the left of higher-priced less healthy items.
  (See: Vending Beverages Figure: Row A and B, and Vending Food Figure: Row A and B.)
• Place healthier items to the left of less healthy items.
  (See: Vending Food Figure: Row D and E.)
• Package healthier fresh items—such as fresh sandwiches, sandwich wraps, fruits, and
  vegetable—in transparent containers.
  

  
• Make sure customers can see the package fronts of healthier items.
  

  

  

• Create flow paths that emphasize healthier choices.

Micro Market, Food Vending

• Use refrigerated vending machines to ensure that healthy fresh foods last longer.
  

  

  

Micro Market, Beverages and Food Vending Food Vending

• Use equipment that makes healthier foods visible, attractive, and easy to access—for example, vending machines with clear glass  and good lighting or refrigerated shelves that are open and well-lit. (See: Micro Market Figure, Vending Beverages Figure, Vending Food Figure  below)
• Use clear glass and colorful displays to enhance the visibility and appearance of healthier foods.
  

  

  

  

• Offer a variety of healthy, lower-sodium soups and microwavable foods, such as canned chili or dry noodle cups.
• Reduce the variety of less healthy snacks.

Food Vending

• Make 75% of items in vending machines healthy. Or try offering 100% healthy items to make it easier to manage your stock.
  

  

Beverage and Food Vending

• Make healthier items the default choice by making them the easiest to select.
  

  

  

• Offer smaller portion size options, such as 8-ounce drinks or half sandwiches.
• Offer larger package sizes of healthier items.
• Offer only smaller package sizes of less healthy items.
• Limit the size of sugar-sweetened beverages to 12 ounces or less. Offer water and unsweetened beverages in larger containers.

• Introduce healthier items by giving samples to customers.

• Promote healthy options through social media and in-house communication methods, such as intranet sites, email messages, or worksite wellness newsletters.

• Offer healthier foods and beverages at a lower price than less healthy items.
• Promote healthier items through sales and pricing specials.
• Price bottled or canned water lower than sweetened beverages (caloric or noncaloric) of the same or similar size.

• Use color-coded signs to identify and highlight healthier foods.
• Label food products in ways that are relevant to customers’ interests in their health, community, or environment—for example, “locally sourced” or “certified organic.”
• Use signs that are easy to interpret—for example, by using colors, simple images, or few words.
• Use floor decals, such as green arrows, to lead customers to 100% healthy vending machines.

Vending Food

• Use floor decals, such as green arrows, to lead customers to 100% healthy vending machines.
  

  

Vending Beverages and Food

• Encourage the selection of healthier options by using traffic light colors (green, yellow, and red) to identify healthier foods that can be consumed more often.
• Use vending machine covers that show healthier products, like water.
  

  

  

• Combine healthy labeling systems with a health communications campaign designed to resonate with customers.
• Conduct lunch and learn sessions for food service employees and customers.
• Offer taste tests to incentivize and encourage sales of healthy items.
• Offer healthier seasonal, regional, and culturally preferred foods.

• Establish food service policies that include behavioral design strategies in all current and future contracts and permits for all onsite food and beverage service.
• Offer space near vending machines for employee lunch and learn sessions.
• Feature information about pricing and promotion incentives for healthier foods and beverages in employee wellness material.
• Work with employee wellness programs to support food service policies, develop requests for proposals for vendors, select vendors, and conduct customer outreach for all onsite food and beverage services.
• Conduct customer surveys to identify food preferences and guide the addition of healthier items to vending machines.

• Implement policies that require vending machines that can support healthy offerings, such as refrigerated machines for fresh foods.