Its a problem in regional areas and also in small airports, convenience stores aren’t cheap to run and in many locations convenience can’t be achieved cost effectively because of small volumes. In these markets small farmers get caught in a catch 22 – do they sell to the supermarkets with low returns or do they try to sell direct to customers where the marketing & distribution costs are too high.  To deal with this in Germany a farm “Peter und Paul Hof” have found a unique solution by working with Regiomat to set up vending machines which sell fresh farm produce.  The machines have been specially designed to deal with milk, eggs, butter, cheese, potatoes and sausage and have been located in thirteen German towns & small communities.

The vending machines can be placed anywhere as long as they’re under a roof (some are even alongside hiking trails in Switzerland) and they give locals 24hr access to farmers market products.  And by cutting out the  middleman the farmers make more money.

How wonderful would an idea like this be in arrivals at smaller regional airports – pick up your essential groceries on your way home and support the local community at the same time.