A micro market has moved onto campus and here is how it’s affecting students
Writer: Amanda Meagher
Greenspun Hall at UNLV taken by Amanda Meagher
The UNLV sweeps over 350 acres and hosts an average of over 25,000 students a year.
Those same 25,000 students find themselves looking for inexpensive snacks on campus during their day, but UNLV recently removed vending machines in the Student Union and has replaced them with kiosks by Zippin and there has been a 50-cent increase on all vending machines across campus. To get a sense of the impact of these changes on campus we have reached out to interview the vendors themselves and students alike.
“Vending machines, we look at that new market, we look at that friction vending so they’re all pretty comparable just to get an idea so it’s not like a separate thing” said Matthew Marsh, CEO of First Class Vending, Inc. “But the prices are usually based on the manufacturer’s retail price. They give us pricing that they recommend based on what they sell to us for, and it’s also the consumer price index.”
Aramark company truck outside of UNLV Student Union taken by Amanda Meagher
First Class Vending Inc. and Aramark are contracted partners who handle all the vending machines on campus. First Class Vending has partnered with UNLV since 2010 and Aramark has partnered with UNLV since 2013. UNLV has about 140 vending machines and a few micro markets across the campus. Recently, at the beginning of the fall 2023 academic year, there was a 50-cent increase in all food vending machines and a dollar increase in some beverage machines. Most of the vending machines and micro markets on campus still do not accept rebel cash.
“Suggested retail prices are based on, like Matthew said we’re purchasing it from them for it does fluctuate week to week” said Wade Noon, Regional District Manager of Aramark. “I mean during Covid we really saw some crazy things, right? I mean we saw Sweet Tarts jump $3 and in a matter of a week monitor that
on a daily basis.”
With the price increase, students have been faced with adapting how they get food on campus. UNLV has a meal plan called UNLV Dining which is available to students, they also have the UNLV Commons for students who live in the dorms but this food is only available during a regimented daily schedule, making it difficult for those who fall outside of it.
Lucca Pasterno, a UNLV student, has lived on campus for 2 ½ years.
“I mean it’s definitely been a factor. I’ve more recently noticed the price increase but I noticed some stuff I think that was like $2.50 is now like $4” Pasterno said. “It has pretty much completely turned me off from buying beverages from vending machines unless I really need a coffee because of the price increase.”
Even within the campus, you can get certain beverages or snacks cheaper in the student pod market or if you are willing to take a stroll towards the outskirts of the campus, you can go to a gas station and get the same product for half the price. Like Lucca, many UNLV student’s have a limited budget for food and tight schedules that don’t allow access to the Common’s dining room.
Also, exasperating the problem is the transition towards lucrative micro markets which are quickly displacing traditional stand alone machines. At the beginning of the fall 2023 fall school year, five of the vending machines in the Student Union were taken out to put in the first Zippin Here micro market in a school in the Vegas Valley.
New micro market located in Student Union at UNLV taken by Amanda Meagher
“The next evolution in vending machines is micro markets. We are always trying to stay above and try new technologies,” Marsh said. “I had been watching this new technology that we are using for the Zippin here market for a few years, and it had not been cost-effective yet, and I hadn’t seen it work yet, but then I saw one that was working, and we were able to test one.”
First Class Vending and Aramark only make around 3-5% profit off the vending machines. Matthew Marsh and Wade Noon are testing the first Zippin Here market with UNLV and have an official opening announcement of the Zippin Here market in October. The two of them are also hoping to put in two more Zippin here markets at Harry Reid Airport with Amazon to see who they like working with more.
For many, the UNLV Commons, open from 7 AM to 8 PM on weekdays and only 10 AM to 8 PM on weekends, is a lackluster dining experience.
“Overall, the commons have been fine. It’s not excellent food, obviously, you
can’t expect much from the buffet” Pasterno said. “But I feel like they tend to
put for effort and quality into the food when there is an outside event that would include more than just students.”
Pasterno prefers the food in the Student Union, even if it is more expensive than the Commons, simply because they offer a wider variety of tasty foods. He complained that the food in the Commons is often bland. Setting up all of these new micro-market high tech machines have certainly come at a price, but Matthew Marsh maintains that they are low-maintenance once installed.
“The vending machines over the years are more reliable now than they have been and yes we will have problems with the machines every once in a while ”Marsh said. “I would say 90% of any mechanical breakdowns are because of people misusing them. Putting foreign coins in them, shaking them. Then the other 10% is actually mechanical.”
First Class Vending product line taken by Amanda Meagher
Vending Machines on average have a 10-15 year life span according to Matthew Marsh. First Class Vending has a warehouse here in Las Vegas where they ship products and machines, while also having a repair facility located inside to work on their machines. First Class Vending Inc. not only does vending for UNLV, but also does vending for most of the casinos on the strip and provides most of the product to local Las Vegas schools’ student stores.
If machines break down sometimes it is not the machines’ fault. Also, even if vending machines do not do well in certain spots on campus, they keep them for the convenience of the students and faculty. Despite the impact on students and the rapid changes around campus, First Class Vending, Inc. and Aramark does not have any major changes planned for the UNLV campus until at least the end of the year.
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