FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 20, 2015
Contact: Sophia Lopez
H.U.M.A.N. Healthy Vending
310-845-7729
[email protected]
HEALTHY FOODS AND DRINKS COMING TO GOVERNMENT WORKPLACES
Randolph-Sheppard Blind Vendors pen Healthy Vending partnership with HUMAN
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: After bringing healthier snacks to students in the massive “Smart Snacks in School” healthy vending switchover of 2014, HUMAN (www.HealthyVending.com), Entrepreneur’s #1 Healthy Vending Franchise in 2014, and the Randolph-Sheppard Vendors of America (RSVA) have partnered to provide government and private sector facilities with healthy vending solutions.
“Teaming with the Randolph-Sheppard blind vendors is a win-win,” said Sean Kelly, HUMAN’s founder and CEO. “We believe that providing easy access to healthier foods in our nation’s workplaces is the fastest way to fight the growth of diet-related health problems like heart disease and obesity. By adapting our proven program for visually impaired small businesses, we can improve their profit margins and thereby rapidly increase the availability of healthful foods to government employees.”
Healthy vending programs have proven popular and profitable in government facilities like the Chicago Parks District and Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, but overall adoption of healthier items has faltered in the Federally-sponsored Randolph-Sheppard Program due to a lack of training, marketing support, and product distribution for blind vending operators. Katherine Bishop, Nutrition Policy Associate, Center for Science in the Public Interest said, “It’s great to see HUMAN partnering with RSVA to provide Randolph-Sheppard vendors with the tools they need to increase healthier food and beverage options on public property.”
In the new partnership, Randolph-Sheppard blind vendors gain access to HUMAN’s proprietary training, marketing, equipment, and product distribution systems, allowing them to successfully transition towards popular healthy vending menus. HUMAN’s product distribution network will make it easier to obtain the right healthful products, which are unavailable from traditional vending distributors.
“HUMAN’s product line is stocked with an unbelievable variety of great tasting snacks that have been successfully market tested,” said Pinky Harris, a Licensed Randolph-Sheppard Vendor. “HUMAN’s vision, branding, pricing, and training have positioned them for explosive growth in an increasingly health conscience America. HUMAN is the healthy vending solution for Randolph-Sheppard blind vendors.”
By adapting its proprietary training and marketing systems for Randolph-Sheppard State Licensing Agencies and Business Enterprise Programs, HUMAN gives blind vendors the needed education and support to take proactive steps towards increasing profitability through a healthy vending model.
“RSVA blind vendors are excited about the opportunities the HUMAN partnership affords,” said Dan Sippl, President of the Board, RSVA. “Healthy vending growth has outpaced traditional snack and beverage growth for a number of years. Clearly the American public has embraced healthy vending options. HUMAN offers blind vendors an increased-margin revenue model to meet this ever increasing marketplace demand.”
Official program announcement and program overview will take place at the RSVA Sagebrush conference on Feb. 10th, 2015. “The Sagebrush conference will be our chance to reveal our innovations in micro market technology, which is sure to be a hit at blind vendor locations,” said Kelly. “Office workers these days deserve a better customer experience than your typical row of old vending machines – and that’s what our open-air, self-serve micro markets provide. The added benefit is that they are much easier to stock and maintain for blind vendor operators.”
The RSVA Healthy Vending program is set to launch in select markets in 2015. Creating economic opportunities for blind vendors while improving the availability of healthy options in vending and concession environments is the end goal of the partnership.
About HUMAN
HUMAN (“Helping Unite Mankind And Nutrition”), is the nation's leading distributor of healthy foods. Via healthy vending machines, healthy micro markets, direct delivery services, and other innovative automated retail technologies, HUMAN delivers on its vision to make healthy food more convenient than junk food. The “better-for-you” platform delivers a wide variety of healthy snacks, fresh produce, coffees, and locally-sourced foods.
HUMAN is an Inc 500 company, Entrepreneur Magazine’s #1 Vending Franchise in 2014, and on Forbes list of “America’s Most Promising Companies." The company is a certified B-Corp and donates 10% of profits to charities that improve childhood nutrition.
HUMAN's products can be found in more than 2,000 locations nationwide, with services to schools, YMCAs, hospitals, health clubs and companies such as Tesla, BlueCross, BlueShield, Apple, Wells Fargo, HP and others.
For more information, visit www.HealthyVending.com
About RSVA
RSVA (Randolph-Sheppard Vendors of America),
http://www.rsva.biz, is the preeminent advocacy group representing Randolph-Sheppard Licensed Blind Managers. RSVA’s mission is to enhance, protect, and educate on behalf of blind entrepreneurs operating vending and concession businesses under the Randolph-Sheppard Act. RSVA is the largest affiliate of the American Council of the Blind.
The Randolph-Sheppard Act is a 1936 Federal statute which gives priority to blind and visually-impaired individuals in the operations of vending and concession locations on Federal property. The Department of Education (RSA) regulates the Randolph-Sheppard program through designated State Licensing Agencies (SLA) which license blind and visually-impaired individuals. State sponsored Business Enterprise Programs (BEP) contract with Federal, State and private sector facilities to provide vending and concession solutions. A Randolph-Sheppard licensed manager is then selected by the BEP to operate a BEP contract facility.
SAGEBRUSH is the longstanding trade convention of RSVA which annually brings together disability matter experts, suppliers, distributors, educators, government officials, and OEMs to create an awareness among blind vendors and State Licensing Agencies concerning new technologies, products, market trends, and regulatory initiatives.
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