It seems the next iteration of food trucks has struck. The ATM trend has finally hit the UK in the most unlikely place. We are all used to getting our drinks and bars of chocolate out of a machine, but that transition into freshly made food is a leap which we are apparently starting to make. Only yesterday, I was waiting to board a plane to Cape Town and at the gate you could get drinks, snacks but also ice cream from a vending machine and interestingly it was the men who purchased one not only for their kids, but themselves.

Bradford Bakers atm 3

Bradford Bakers atm 2

Bradford Bakers launched a cupcake ATM at the end of last year in, of all places, a shopping centre in Glasgow. The machine is filled fresh daily from the bakers and is the first bakery ATM in the UK. Now they are up for an Opal innovation award organised by the British Council of Shopping Centres.

sprinkles-cupcake-atm

Dispensing cupcakes, cupcake mixes and other Sprinkles branded accessories

Dispensing cupcakes, cupcake mixes and other Sprinkles branded accessories

I guess their inspiration came from the iconic Sprinkles cup cake mecca in LA. They opened their ATM just over a year ago in March 2012, closely followed by an ice cream concept. These guys as ever lead the way. The fascinating thing to me is the branding which is clearly just leagues ahead in the USA. These pics show it plainly in terms of creating a brand with colour, design, texture and just so much more to capture the imagination. Why don’t our retail designers set standards in the same way our fashion designers or architects do?

lets-pizza atm

Whilst bakery seems to be the easiest option for food ATM’s there are also a couple of others that have been seen around in the USA, namely hotdogs and pizza.

Will it catch on? It’s kind of suicide for me to know that a wonderful cupcake is available 24/7 but I guess in 20 years time we will all be grabbing a bite from some branded robot. For now, I prefer a freshly prepared something cooked fresh in a kitchen….what about you?