Healthy Vending is the hottest trend in the food service industry today! Here is a sampling of recent press on healthy vending and Fit Fuel's role in the industry.

ABC News - June 26, 2006 (go to ABC News article)
New York Post - October 3, 2005
Healthy Vending Press Release - October 3, 2005

ABC News

Vending Machine Makeover
Trying to Make Health a Choice in Snack Foods - by Jessica Golden

What do you get when you cross the munchies with the desire to be healthy?

Entrepreneurs Sean Kelly and Luke Burgis of Healthy Vending found themselves at that very crossroad, and it inspired them to launch a company that's filling vending machines with healthy alternatives to the chips, cookies and candy bars that stock traditional machines.

Healthy vending machine options may be just what the doctor ordered. The Surgeon General has warned Americans about our nation's obesity problem; he's even gone on so far as to compare the threat of obesity to terrorism.

Kelly and Burgis think they have the answer to healthier living — and one that could help in the fight against obesity.

"We've done something with a vending machine that's never been done before," Kelly said. "We've made it 100 percent healthy."

Healthy Vending has emerged with a product line that is new and unique and offers convenience and accessibility to nutritious products. They've renamed their vending machines "Fueling stations," which are stocked with an array of granola bars, protein bars, nuts and other tasty but nutritious snacks.

One of their biggest challenges is changing the way healthy foods are perceived by vendors who fear they will lose money with healthy vending.

"The way to do that is through simple numbers. Every vending machine we've placed has done better than traditional machines," Burgis said. "We've also branded the machines to look attractive and grab people's eyes."

It's a common misconception that kids won't eat healthy foods, said Margo Wootan, the director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

"People have this idea that kids won't eat healthy foods. If you offer children good tasting healthy choices they will eat them," she said.

And despite America's cravings for junk food, Healthy Vending has been flourishing since its creation.

"I've got about 300 different people I need to follow up with on orders," Burgis said.

Healthy vending has gained widespread support, including that of professional athletes. Jay Fielder, quarterback of the New York Jets says, "As a professional athlete whose body has endured 10 rigorous seasons of NFL football, I understand the importance of nutrition in keeping me healthy… through their healthy vending program and convenient distribution methods, Healthy Vending provides health-conscious individuals with nutrition they need around the clock."

As nutrition takes center stage in Congress with the debate over the sale of soda beverages and vending food programs, Kelly and Burgis are hoping to have some influence in a country dominated by junk food. A 2004 survey done by the Center for Science in the Public Interest found that an estimated 75 percent of vending machines are filled with junk food… a problem that may be to blame for an increase in obesity, diabetes and other weight-related health problems on the rise.

"I'm so busy all day that I usually grab a bag of chips from the vending machines," Capitol Hill staffer Deborah Shamaskin said. She recently learned of "healthy vending machines" and says she wishes she had them in her office building.

"I would love if I had healthier options to choose from," she said.

With the most recent Gallup poll finding that one in five American teens are overweight, healthy vending may just be the answer.

New York Post

"Snack Attack" by Raakhee Mirchandani

NEW YORK - Oct 3, 2005. You’ve been in meetings all morning and had a conference call at 1 p.m. All you have to do before lunch is hand in that report - and answer the 900,000 e-mails that have been building up in your in-box over the last few hours. OK, now it's 3 p.m. , your stomach is whining, your blood sugar has dropped, and you're dangerously close to snapping at the next person who dares venture past your desk.

Come to daddy - it's Vending Machine Time.

Whether you missed breakfast and lunch - or you're just making up for the weak salad you thought would be enough to hold you over till dinner - the daily trip to the vending machine might be your source of workplace sanity. The snack oasis can be just the pick-me-up your body needs when the afternoon lull hits - not to mention an excuse to wander around the office.

Alluring, yes. Snack-tastic, even.

But the seemingly innocent stroll to the vending machine could be the reason you can't seem to lose those last five pounds or - worse - the reason you've packed on the latest five. Cindy Sherwin, a dietician and director of education at The Gym, is horrified by the amount of junk food people put into their bodies at work.

"It's gross," she says.

"And there's this justification process: 'I didn't eat lunch, I'm not going to get dinner till late, and even then I'll just eat a salad.' And then before you know it, the Pop Tarts are gone, and you're like, OK, what did I just do?" Sherwin estimates people consume between 400 and 700 additional calories a day with just one visit to the machine to pick up a snack and a soda. And since a person who sits at a desk all day may need only 1,600 calories, the chips, candy and soda could add up to almost half that.

"Let's say you that you snack like this once a day, and that's in addition to eating - it could get dangerous," she says. "And the kind of person who is exercising is not the kind of person who is going to be making the trip to the vending machine - know what I mean?" For Allison, a 24-year-old publicist, the pilgrimage to the machine for her afternoon sugar fix is a secret she keeps from all her body-conscious co-workers. "It's like clockwork for me. Every day at 3:30 , I head over to the vending machine and buy a bag of M&M's and a bottle of Coke," she says. "I know it's really bad, and everyone in my office is, like, borderline anorexic, so I eat it secretly and then go back to work."

In the building next door, Michelle Charles has a similar routine. "I eat snacks out of the vending machine a couple times a week - well, maybe almost everyday," says the 27-year-old investment banker. "Usually I'll get like an apple pie or candy bar and maybe a soda. I never stock any of this crap in my apartment, but somehow while I'm at work I feel like it doesn't count," she says. "Plus, there aren't really a lot of other options."

But options - in addition to bringing a healthy snack from home, that is - could soon be on the way.

Sean Kelly, president of Healthy Vending, runs a customized vending machine service geared toward people interested in making healthy snack choices. Last week, he traveled to New York to meet with people at area universities, businesses and gyms in an effort to bring his mach-ines cross-country.

"The problem is that it's not convenient for people to eat healthy," says Kelly.

"It's all about, 'Now I'm starving, I don't have time,' and they don't realize that they can eat healthy. And they can do it quickly."

Healthy Vending Press Release

LOS ANGELES - Sep. 6, 2005. FitFuel.com is the internet's new healthy lifestyle center. Healthy Vending, LLC is a health and nutrition company that is making the healthy lifestyle more achievable than ever. How? Convenience. The company distributes carefully screened products through its line of healthy vending machines and kiosks in places where nutritious food is often hard to find. Healthy Vending's healthy vending machines are not your typical vending machine - they accept credit cards, and provide educational information on an interactive LCD screen. Healthy Vending takes the guess-work out of health by offering only products that have received the approval of its Board of Advisors, which is made up of medical doctors, scientists, top nutritionists and dieticians. And the company goes to great lengths to educate its customers - where Healthy Vending-approved products are sold, you can find information on each product and guidance on how to best use them.

Founders Luke Burgis and Sean Kelly, recent college graduates, are passionate about Healthy Vending's role in shaping positive lifestyles. Introducing nutritious foods into schools is one of their top priorities. Kelly, who recently graduated from Columbia University with a degree in biomedical engineering, explained: "Never is the availability of nutritional foods and beverages more important than during adolescent years - a time when most lifelong dietary habits are formed. Healthy Vending's school program focuses on increasing both the availability and awareness of nutritious foods and beverages. Without each of these, a true nutritional revolution cannot occur." Healthy Vending is currently offering healthy vending machines and educational programs to schools across the country. The school program has been well received at universities, where Healthy Vending also offers healthy gift baskets to parents to send to their children at move-in, mid-term and final exams, or before athletic events. "Popcorn and candy are counter-productive to a student studying for finals. Our gift baskets are designed to help them, not hurt them", says Burgis.

Burgis, who has traveled as far as China and Indonesia exploring the health market, says: "More Americans are realizing the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Healthy Vending is the first company that understands that living healthy is not easy - we try to make it easier. Eventually, we want Healthy Vending to be part of the framework of our lives. It's like people in a foreign place seeing an American fast food joint and feeling a sense of comfort because it's recognizable, and they know what they're going to get. That's Healthy Vending's role. You're out, you're busy, you've got a lot on your mind - and when you see a Healthy Vending machine or kiosk, you can rest easy. You're going to get the best health products in the world, on the spot, with the swipe of your credit card."

Healthy Vending is expanding aggressively. The company is currently developing software that will let users of its online store log-in, enter basic information about themselves, and be presented with a complete, real-time consultation of the health products that would best help them meet their health goals. They would then be given the option to purchase that basket of products immediately and have them delivered to their doorstop within 2 days.

Kelly says that they are glad to see that Healthy Vending is receiving a warm reception. "Luke and I are spending so much time trying to make other people healthier, we can barely find time to go to the gym anymore", he says with a smile. "The bottom line is that when people are healthier, they're happier. If we can make health more attainable, we're making people happy. And making people happy and healthier is not a bad job to have."