A pair of Blairgowrie farmers have helped bring the concept for the farm shop into the 21st Century.
Fed up of eggs being taken from honesty boxes, John Retson and his son Stuart began selling vending machines with room to store sacks of potatoes, a dozen eggs and other farm produce.
Until recently the machines have only operated in shopping centres and on farms, but the pair has just installed their first in a shop frontage.
The move allows Blairgowrie Farm Shop, which is owned by Jennifer and Colin Steele, to remain “open all hours” and means the small business can compete with all-hours supermarket giants.
Stuart, director of sales and marketing for vending by JSR, said the machine’s 24-hour availability meant the retail possibilities were endless.
“Everyone knows you can get a chocolate bar or can of juice in a vending machine but we can store large items in our machines and we are very excited about rolling this out on a national basis,” he said.
“So far, our machines have been installed on farms or shopping centres, selling local farm produce like eggs and veg the kind of things everyone needs on a daily basis.
“But now a shop has 24-hour vending, we are seeing huge interest from all sorts of businesses.
“We could see greeting card companies use our vending machines, so no husband need ever come home without an anniversary or birthday card just because the shops have shut.
“Hotels could stock bags of toiletries for guests and bakeries could stay open all night, with no overheads.
“This could change the face of the Scottish and UK high street.”
The Retsons are the only sellers of the German-made machines in the UK.
Stuart added: “These machines are very reliable.
“They take coins and notes and give change. They are widely used in other countries so we are excited about introducing them here. The possibilities are huge.”