The thought of an egg vending machine might conjure up a picture of a hapless customer trying to catch an egg as it pops out of the device and before it smashes on the floor but the reality is quite different.
Poultry industry suppliers and egg producers JSR Services (Blairgowrie) Ltd have just become sole agents for Roesler vending machines.
To prove that the concept works, they have installed one at their free-range egg unit at Cransley between the villages of Liff and Fowlis near Dundee.
“My father had always thought this was an idea worth pursuing, and when we saw one working up at John Gordon’s farm at Tain we realised that this was something we wanted to be involved with,” said Stuart Retson.
“It is a big improvement on the honesty box principle, which many people now say doesn’t work too well.
“We decided to install this one here at Cransley and set about building a car park and bought a simple wooden hut to house the machine.
“Within two days of commissioning the machine six weeks ago we had sold our first eggs, and it has been steady trade ever since.”
The important principle is that the eggs are absolutely fresh, with the machine replenished daily or more often if necessary.
“The connection with production couldn’t be more obvious, with 16,000 of the Retson’s own hens on the site and the car park situated alongside the woodland free-range area.
The concept is simplicity itself, and is based on standard vending machine technology.
The customer has only to punch in the correct code for the grade and number of eggs required, insert the relevant cash, and the door to the correct compartment swings open.
Eggs are packed in sixes or dozens, with each compartment containing one pack.
Typically a machine such as the one at Cransley would cost around £6,000, but price depends on specification.
The stainless steel compartments could be custom made to be small enough to hold a jar of jam or large enough to take a 25kg bag of potatoes.
“I can see this being popular at farm shops, garden centres or even in pub car parks.
“It needs very little attention and the cash container and vending equipment can easily be removed each evening to help security,” said Stuart.
The Retson business was started in 1990 by John Retson and his wife Linda, with sons Stuart and Andrew now heading up a team of nine full-time and five part-time staff.
The core business is in rearing and distributing free-range and organic pullets as well as a range of poultry requisites.
Over the years they have built up their own free-range flocks to today’s total of 64,000 birds.
The company has also recently become involved in a renewable energy partnership specialising in solar panels.