New Vegan Vending Machine Serves Hot Meals to Hospital Workers In London

A vegan vending machine was recently installed at the Hillingdon Hospital in London. The machine is a collaboration between vegan food company Vibrant Vegan and vending machine company Open Kitchen Co. Vibrant Vegan—which sells meals across the UK through its subscription plan—will fill the vending machines with 18 meals, which can be microwaved or cooked inside of the machine in four minutes or less. Each meal costs up to £4.95 ($6.44) and is designed to keep National Health Service (NHS) workers—who are currently working extended shifts due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic—energized and healthy. 

“As we all know, the NHS has been doing an incredible job of keeping the country afloat during this terrible pandemic, and it’s been a pleasure to collaborate with Open Kitchen Co. to try and make a difference—we’re confident the partnership is going to improve the quality of NHS staff diets across the country,” Vibrant Vegan founder Iain Burke-Hamilton said. 

The vending machine is the first of 500 machines Vibrant Vegan plans to install in hospitals across the UK by 2023.