Healthy snacking comes to City Campus

Nutrition2Go is the brainchild of former Leeds Beckett student Tam Owen. “The idea of a healthy vending machines initially came from a visit to a local gym where following a workout me and my partner were unable to get anything nutritious. This seemed crazy – with peoples’ lives becoming ever busier, the option of grabbing a healthy snack becomes all the more important.”

“We started Nutrition2Go to provide nutritious and delicious snacks for groups who we could see were clearly not being catered for with traditional vending. Whether that be customers looking for high protein or low calorie products, wholefood and organic snacks or those (like my partner) who are gluten or dairy intolerant, we aim to cater for them all.”

The innovative machine has a number of high-tech features helping you to choose the right snack. First there’s the 3D touchscreen which makes choosing your snack as easy as swiping your finger. Tam explains “opting for the touchscreens instead of a glass-fronted machines sets us apart from ‘junk’ machines by enabling our customers to immediately identify us”. Another advantage over normal vendors is that you can also push to see nutritional information for each individual product, so you know exactly what you’re buying before you’ve paid your money.

Nutrition2Go wants to take this further in the future. The machines have the potential for educational information, offers and promotions and even games for an even more interactive snacking experience.

The vending machine is equipped to take more modern payment methods like Contactless and mobile-based systems like Apple Pay. “We needed to separate ourselves from the ‘tired old traditional’ vending machines we all remember." That means no more fumbling around for change with the pressure of a growing queue behind you.

Tam’s project has had support of the Leeds Beckett Business School and Nutrition2Go’s offices are based in the QU2 hatchery on Queen Square. So how does it feel to have his product on his old campus? “As a former Leeds Beckett student, seeing one of our units in the Lesley Silver Building is extra special. The University has long been behind this project and their vision has been a great encouragement to all at Nutrition2Go. We can see this relationship lasting many years to come!”

So next time you’re feeling peckish on City Campus, head over and give it a go.