Automatic_Merchandiser_February-March_2021 - 31

improve our delivery to our customers and our customer satisfaction,
then we are going to invest in it, "
Ryan said. " We've been doing that
and will continue to do so. "
With Michelle's background in
human resources, Royal ReFresh
adds to the customer experience by
partnering with locations on their
employee benefits programs using
micro market subsidies. " On every
new market we install, we offer our
healthy subsidy program, and that
has been successful, " Ryan said. This
means the location will generally
subsidize the price of the healthy
and fresh products so that their
team members have access to these
options at lower prices.
" It has been successful to entice
employees to eat healthier and we
can make it part of that company's
wellness program and it increases
market usage, " Ryan added.
In fact, Royal has seen some
market sales double from implementing this program. " It's a win for
the customer because their employees are going to stay on site and use
the market more and it's a win for
us in that we can take that smaller
employee population or footprint
and still get the same sales as if it
were twice as large, " Ryan said.
The Harringtons believe that, in
the future, companies will save money
on lease and rent and put that savings
into their employee benefits programs.
" That's what we are going to be focusing on for the future, " Ryan said.

COVID-19 RESPONSE
While 2019 was a stellar year for Royal ReFresh, 2020 was
the company's first year without growth. " When March
[2020] hit, closures happened all at once, " owner Ryan
Harrington recalled. " Places closed on a daily basis and
companies sent their employees to work from home. In July,
some companies tried to bring their employees back only to
close down again. It has been a tough year to navigate. "
Before COVID-19, Harrington would have bet big that pantry
service was the future of Royal ReFresh, but the pandemic
turned everything upside down for the company. " In 2020 our
pantry service declined a lot, " he said. " Buildings are sitting
empty and there's not much to do about it. I still think there is
a future in [pantry service], but at the moment it doesn't make
up a large part of our revenue. "
Despite the uncertainty of when or if employees will return
to offices, Ryan is grateful for and amazed by the company's
team members. " We've changed a lot of our procedures and
I'm just amazed at how our team has adapted and changed
on a moment's notice. Everyone has hit this in stride, " he said.
The Royal ReFresh organization is optimistic about 2021 and
has already seen a big increase in sales in the manufacturing
and distributing facilities it serves. " We are predicting that we
will be back to two micro market installations a week in 2021, "
Ryan said. " And if we can, we would like to increase that. "

REBRANDING FOR FUTURE

Today, the Harringtons operate 219
vending machines that make up 15%
of revenue. With that number shrinking annually, Ryan and Michelle
believe it is the perfect time to refresh
their company name from Royal
Vending. The company is changing
its name to Royal ReFresh to not only
showcase its fresh food options, but

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February/March 2021 * VendingMarketWatch.com

31
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