History of the vending machine and ADM
Particularly during the past 30 years, the concept of the vending machine as a commercial product has gained wide interest. Nevertheless, the predecessor of the current machine was invented much earlier. The fact that the concept was already known in ancient Greece as long as 2000 years ago proves that it is not necessarily a contemporary product.Around 1892 the idea from Sparta revived in the shape of a wine vending machine in Paris in France. A few years later, early versions of the current machines followed.
Vending machines gained a definite economic position when people started to realize that products could be sold on a large scale without the need for a large staff. Our organization started selling vending machines for warm snacks in 1955. A few years later, in 1961, the first Belgian office was opened. This was the basis for further ‘automatization’ of the Benelux countries by ADM.
Automat restaurant, Unilever Arnhem 1962
Initially, sales principally involved cigarette machines. Soon the range was extended to automat halls and vending machines for the sales of a wide range of articles including hot and cold drinks, nylon stockings, flowers, sweets and all kinds of groceries.
With the creation and development of the vending machine with windows for individual products, automat sales of food and snacks developed fast. Today, it’s almost impossible to imagine society without vending machines and automats.
Automat wall in factory in the sixties
