Hungry Germans craving a sausage in the dead of night can increasingly turn to a vending machine to procure a bratwurst, bockwurst, and barbecue meats.
Vending machines selling items more usually bought over the counter – like sausages – are “booming” outside German cities, according to a survey by the German Press Agency (dpa).
The machines are particularly popular in rural areas, where services in more traditional shops can be sparse and opening hours restricted.
“Especially in structurally weak, rural areas, vending machine solutions are becoming increasingly popular,” says Heike Richter, spokesperson for the Federal Association of the Vending Machine Industry.
“There is a strong development towards the vending machine, which is used to deliver meat, milk, eggs and other products to customers outside of core opening times.”
Some butchers’ vending machines sell as many as three or four different types of sausages, and punnets of accompanying potato salad – so customers can buy all the ingredients they need for a traditional hearty German feast.
Others stock eggs, milk, butter, and fruit and vegetables – to that all the kitchen essentials are available outside the opening times of shops.
There are over 570,000 vending machines in Germany, but despite their popularity they are expected to compliment, rather than replace traditional shops – operating in areas where a full retail outlet may not be economically viable.
“Vending machines will play a complementary role in brick-and-mortar retailing,” Wolfgang Kampmeier of the Berlin-Brandeburg trade association told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper.
In the international imagination unusual vending machines have long had an association with Japan, where they have been known sell everything from Sake rice wine to fresh underwear.
