Pizza vending machine a world first

Alexandra Cain
August 20, 2014
The Age
Bondi’s renowned pizza restaurant Pompei’s has made a bold move into the vending machine game, installing what it claims is the world’s first artisan pizza vending machine in Westfield’s Chatswood shopping centre.
It seems a bizarre initiative for a business renowned for its authentic Italian pizzas. But proprietor and chef George Pompei stresses the pizzas dispensed from its vending machine are made from the same fresh ingredients as the pizzas customers buy from its beachside restaurant, with both products of the highest calibre.
Pompei says he’s not worried this sales model will damage his brand.
The machine, called Pizza Gio sells margherita or hot salami pizzas for $12, which cook in three minutes.
Pompei first came across a prototype for the machine two years ago when it was being developed in Italy. “It immediately appealed because it meant we could be in multiple locations without having to commit to a bricks and mortar store. But before we got excited I had to be sure the machine could meet our quality standards and produce really delicious pizzas.”
While vending machines have been used to sell mass produced pizzas, this is thought to be the first time one has been used for high-quality, traditional artisan pizzas.
He says Pizza Gio has been very well received, but stresses it’s a labour-intensive exercise as a business proposition. Pizzas are partially cooked in the Bondi store, then super-chilled and transported to Chatswood. The machine has to be re-stocked and serviced daily.
So how exactly does the contraption work? Once the pizzas have been placed in the machine, when a customer orders a pizza, a robotic arm takes it from its packaging and places it in the oven in the machine. The oven approximates conditions in a woodfire pizza oven. After it’s cooked, the robot puts the pizza back in the box and out the machine’s window.
The machine is connected to a smart phone, which can alert Pompei if there is a power failure or of any malfunction.
As to why Pompei chose Chatswood for the location of its first machine, he says he has had a relationship with Westfield for some time and its management team suggested it would be the ideal spot to trial Pizza Gio.
He says it’s also positioned far enough away from the Bondi shop so that people might not know its established reputation. This means the machine’s success rests on the quality of the product, rather than customers’ pre-conceived idea of Pompei’s pizzas.
Vending machines are more usually associated with selling commoditised products such as snacks and drinks than artisan pizza. But Pompei says he’s not worried this sales model will damage his brand.
“The pizza is of exceptionally high quality. And having a pizza at our Bondi shop is a totally different experience [than buying one through the vending machine]. I’m very happy with the result.”
Pompei also notes the connotation of what vending machines dispense is changing. Many businesses, even luxury brands, are now using them as part of their distribution strategy. For instance Chanel sells handbags in vending machines in Las Vegas in the US, and Clinique use this technology to sell makeup. He says the trade term for the vending machine sales channel is ‘direct serve’.
While Pompei won’t disclose how much the Pizza Gio cost, he says he has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in it. He’s expecting a return on his investment within 18 months.
“The machine has many hand-made components and it’s made in Italy. The real cost is to be determined, but it’s a significant spend. We’re going to keep improving it and the next version will have a bigger, interactive screen.”
Pizza Gio will be rolled out progressively throughout Sydney and beyond and Pompei is currently in discussions about locations for further machines.
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