Milk dispenser - a complete description of the business. Milk dispensers: a new way to sell a traditional product. The more important issue is milk supply

At the entrance to the shopping center there is a machine for selling lemonade or coffee. Only instead of a cup of coffee, he pours you a bottle of milk. Recently in Russia it has become possible to buy farm milk “from the cow” in this way. This device is called a milk machine. There are already several dozen of them in Russia, networks of machines are being developed in Moscow and the region, Kazan, Belgorod, Novosibirsk, several “steel cows” are being tested in the Voronezh region, Buryatia, and Perm.

Thanks to milk machines, farmers are able to reach the buyer, bypassing the processor, and their margin increases by an order of magnitude. Some processors and retailers are interested in these machines as a means of attracting additional customers and increasing milk sales. In addition, this business dramatically expands the sales market for manufacturers and distributors of vending machines, which include milk machines.

However, dairy chains in Russia are developing differently than in Europe, and require outstanding entrepreneurial and management skills from farmers. According to the most daring estimates, sales through milk machines can reach only 5% of the market here.

Market Pioneers

Recently AndreyTymoshenko, co-owner of Vendorus Group, a distributor and operator of coffee and snack vending machines, returned with his family to Moscow from Kazan, where they spent almost three years. All this time Andrey implemented new project. In 2008, his company sold the country's first Italian-made milk machines to the Krasny Vostok agricultural holding, Russia's largest milk producer. By that time, sales of coffee and snack machines had fallen sharply and the company was looking for new niches. Meanwhile, in the West, almost everything is sold through vending, including glass cleaners and umbrellas. At an exhibition in Italy, Andrey drew attention to the machine for fresh milk. The entrepreneur reasoned that since milk is a product of daily consumption, the niche is potentially golden and can be many times larger than the market for conventional snack and coffee machines. He suggested introducing the new product to several large holdings - milk producers, who could risk investing half a million dollars in the project (about the amount required to install 20 machines with infrastructure) or more. "Red Vostok" agreed.

AiratKhairullin, owner of Krasny Vostok and State Duma deputy, as well as president of the National Union of Milk Producers (Soyuzmoloko), it turns out that he himself was eyeing the dairy business. Then, at the end of 2008 - beginning of 2009, a very difficult period began for milk producers. “In the winter of 2008, banks sharply raised loan rates, which affected modern, highly mechanized dairy enterprises. A couple of years before, they took out loans for imported equipment and purchased elite livestock that produce high-quality milk,” says Khairullin. “But milk prices began to decline due to the crisis, because demand was falling.” In the summer of 2009, the situation was worsened by drought. The price decline has reached its peak. “If in August 2008 the price for premium milk was an acceptable 16.5–17 rubles per liter, then in the summer of 2009 it was no more than 10 rubles, despite the fact that the price on the store shelf increased by 37 percent. The industry generated a loss of 5–6 rubles per liter for a year and a half. Already in mid-2009, farmers began to slaughter their livestock because they had nothing to pay off their loans,” recalls Khairullin.

The most interesting thing is that the buyer pays more than two times more for milk than the processing plant pays to the farmer. This “extra” money goes towards pasteurization or sterilization, packaging, shelf placement, and the rest is the factory and retailer’s margin. That is, there is room for increasing the farmer’s profitability. The way out of this situation is logical and paradoxical at the same time: milk is a ready-to-eat product, so why does it need processing and packaging? People of the older generation still remember how popular barrels were, to which there were queues with cans. And it was decided to bypass the intermediaries.

It turned out that modern “barrels” were invented in Switzerland, where farmers also suffered from price swings and even staged protests, pouring milk on the ground. As a result, they called on the help of equipment manufacturers to develop a machine that the farmer could place in a populated area not far from the farm: on the street, in a store, in a shopping center - pouring milk into it himself, and the client would buy it at his convenience time. This was in the early 2000s, and now there are already 6-7 thousand milk machines in Europe, mainly in Switzerland, Italy and Eastern European countries. There are such machines in Africa and Latin America, and it is estimated that there are up to 10 thousand of them in the world.

The profitability of sales through milk machines is much higher than the profitability of milk sales to a processing plant. In Russia, market participants quote a figure of 35%, and if you don’t count capital costs - the purchase of machines and building infrastructure - then the whole 50% versus the usual few percent.

Although Krasny Vostok itself did not suffer too much from the fall in prices due to its large size and diversified structure, Khairullin decided to experiment with a new product. “We decided that milk machines would be especially useful for small farmers in the regions. I consulted with managers, and we began to test the technology,” he says. Now the company has a network of 30 machines in Kazan and Almetyevsk.

Meanwhile, farmers all over the country were following the progress of the experiment. Andrei Tymoshenko answered 400 calls, of which, by his estimate, approximately 50 were from potential clients. Among them was the company “Dubna+” from the village of Olyavidovo, Dmitrovsky district, Moscow region, just such a “small farm from the region”, with 3 thousand heads versus 30 thousand for “Krasny Vostok”.

IvanSolomakha, the head of the dairy project at Dubna+, has long been interested in the opportunity to sell fresh milk directly. He and his partners began building the farm in 2006 on the site of a collapsed collective farm. “Everything was, of course, in a deplorable state,” says Ivan, leading us through the barn. “Only this pillar remains from the previous enterprise, the rest was rebuilt.” Investors, whose main business is in Norilsk, view the farm as an opportunity to do “something high-quality and useful.” Employees were lured to the main positions from Moscow: they were attracted by good salaries and the opportunity to get housing by building apartment house. In addition, they began to create living conditions in the village, supporting a school and a hospital. But problems with purchasing prices for milk put everything at risk.

The Red East project became additional evidence for Solomakha that this direction is promising. Since September 2010, Dubna+ has developed a network of 25 machines under the A-Moloko brand. They are located mainly in Dmitrov, Yakhroma, Khimki, and one milk machine has already been installed in Moscow, in the Rio shopping center on Dmitrovskoye Shosse.

Meanwhile, newspapers began to write about milk machines and professional magazines, they were shown at exhibitions. Since the end of 2011, the Belgorod meat and dairy holding Agro-Belogorye began creating a network of milk machines, which has already installed nine units in its own network of stores. Milk machines appeared among farmers in Novosibirsk, Ulan-Ude, and Perm. Moreover, Russian producers of milk machines have appeared. In Moscow, the Food Milk group of companies took up this task. And recently, according to media reports, a local development of a milk machine was presented in Perm.

Ivan Solomakha predicts a large influx of new players into the dairy milk market this summer. “Everyone was waiting to see how we would survive the winter: whether the machine guns would freeze on the street, whether vandals would break them. If the winter of 2010 was just the beginning of the project, now that there are many of them, it’s already possible to draw conclusions,” he says.

However, building a network of milk machines is not so easy, otherwise none of the farmers would hesitate.

Buying milk as an attraction

I decided to test a milk machine from the Russian manufacturer Food Milk, installed in the XL shopping center on Yaroslavskoye Shosse. I throw a coin into the machine rack with plastic bottles, he spits one out. Then I put the money in the milk machine. I open the door. I hold the bottle at an angle as shown in the picture and press the button. The machine moos loudly, imitating a cow, so that you want to jump away from surprise, but you can’t: the milk is already flowing. More, more, the bottle fills up, it becomes difficult to hold, your hand trembles. Plus it foams. The bottleneck is already close... Naturally, everything overflows.

As he explained to me later KarenTatintsyan, shareholder of Food Milk, if there is a threat of overflow, you need to press the “stop” button with the hand free from holding the bottle, and the machine will turn off, giving out change for unfilled milk. What if I have things in my other hand? “There’s also a special hook for a bag!” - Tatintsyan answers calmly. And it turns out that holding the bottle is not necessary. But then there will be even more foam!

However, a similar story emerged with the Italian-made machine gun from A-Moloko. Although the “Italian” does not moo and there is no need to hold the bottle, I still spill some of the milk when I take it out of the machine and screw on the cap. Besides the fact that my hands do not grow from there, I understand that I am not alone in this. The metal surfaces and glass of the machine in Dmitrov are all stained with dried, smeared milk. Fortunately, for such cases, paper napkins are specially attached to milk machines.

In addition to overflow, A-Moloko milk machines have problems with bill acceptors: garbage often gets into them, coins filled with milk stick together, as a result the machine can “eat” money. In such cases, the company suggests calling it at “ hotline” and immediately puts the eaten money on the victim’s phone. And now A-Moloko offers alternative way payment - through special electronic keys, the account on which can also be topped up at the milk machine.

In general, fiddling with a milk dispenser is not an amateur activity. At the same time, there are obviously fans. “The new product arouses great interest among people, and they really like to watch how at six or seven in the morning they install a tank with fresh milk and ask questions to the workers,” says Ivan Solomakha. And indeed, in both cases, when I conducted “field tests” of milk machines, those around me kindly helped to cope with them, in particular the security guards of shopping centers, although they are not obliged to tinker with milk machines. One of them, helping to tighten the lids, gave an almost advertising speech about how delicious this milk is, spoke about the latest European dairy technologies, and named the breed of cows on the farm that supplies milk here. “I even came up with a slogan: get milk from an iron bull,” he went viral.

At the Moscow plant "Bolshaya Peremenya", which specializes in milk processing and a month ago installed a milk machine in its company store, they confirm the interest of buyers in the technological innovation. “It’s like an attraction: you need to throw money, the machine hums. Buyers are very happy, especially young people. We put it up for advertising purposes to attract customers. On economic effect we don’t even really count on it,” says VladimirKholzakov, Chief Engineer. By the way, despite the fact that “Big Change” pours processed milk into the milk machine, there is still a benefit from such a sale: there are no packaging costs, and a seller is not needed.

The gaming effect is still not the main advantage of the milk machine in the eyes of buyers. Moreover, you quickly get used to it. Operators say that after the explosion of popularity, when there is a crowd of people at the machines, many buyers, having had enough of playing, return to regular stores and the usual bags and bottles. “People prefer to quickly throw a purchase into the cart and move on,” says AndreyDanilenko, Chairman of the Board of Soyuzmolok.

Milk dispensers are good because they are mobile and accessible. They can be placed where the greatest flow of customers passes, and there are no alternatives for purchase. So, “A-Moloko” places them near underground passages and train stations. Unsuccessful objects can be moved. If the machines are located on the street, and not in a shopping center or store, they can sell milk around the clock. True, these are more expensive and attractive to vandals.

Which is better - raw or pasteurized?

But the main trump card of dairy farmers is that the milk is offered to the buyer fresh, unpasteurized, “from the cow.” This ensures their success, even if they are directly adjacent to packaged milk, that is, in trading floor store.

Krasny Vostok, for example, installed milk machines in its own Edelweiss supermarket chain in Tatarstan, and also began supplying milk to 17 milk machines installed by the Moscow chain of premium stores Azbuka Vkusa. “In the near future, we plan to supply this milk to the remaining 30 supermarkets of the network so that everyone can buy this product,” Azbuka reported.

"We are young modern company, keeping up with the times, focused on the needs and requirements of people, says VladimirTikunov, Deputy General Director of the trading house “Agro-Belogorye”. - The milk dispenser allows the consumer to obtain natural whole milk highest quality at a reasonable price at almost any time in a place convenient for him.”

Milk in a milk machine is cheaper than in packaging. In Kazan it costs 28 rubles per liter, in Belgorod - 30, at A-Moloko - 40–45, while a bottle or package of regular milk in a store costs from 40 to 90. Only in the premium ABC of Taste is the price in the milk machine about 90 rubles, which is partly explained by logistics costs - milk is delivered every day from Kazan, six hours by car. Manufacturers insist that this is a fresh product, from evening milking, not like in boxes, stored for months. In the morning, the remaining milk from the milk machine is taken away and fresh milk is added.

The demand has not yet been studied in detail; the base is small. Milk machine operators note that their customers are very different - from pensioners to business people. In the regions, the older generation has retained the habit of raw milk, and as for large cities, its popularity is growing among young people in the wake of the fashion for a healthy lifestyle. Some buyers take many liters of raw milk, since they make it themselves. For their sake, Food Milk adapted its machine so that it could also accommodate large containers, and not just a liter bottle. According to Karen Tatintsyan, he himself saw how customers attach a hose to Italian milk machines, where only a bottle fits, to fill a five-liter container. Ivan Solomakha, however, counters that such clients account for only 1% of milk machine sales.

However, skeptics claim that raw milk can cause diseases. “Farmers are engaged in sales - for example, bottled milk in barrels on the streets. No matter how they puff themselves up, their share is small and its growth is not planned due to consumers’ distrust of quality - and rightly so,” I am sure SergeyChalov, Commercial Director Galaktika group of companies, a milk producer and processor from the Leningrad region.

Milk farmers have to prove the opposite. Tell them that the cows receive the best food, they are regularly checked by veterinarians, the milk goes straight into the tank thanks to modern equipment, is immediately cooled to four degrees, and goes through metal filtration. Then the tank is installed in the milk mat, where it is stored at the same temperature.

However, persuasion does not always work. For example, in many US states the sale of raw milk is prohibited. Although there is no ban in Russia, as in many European countries, regional authorities do not always give the go-ahead for the installation of milk machines. According to rumors, the Perm administration did not allow the experiment. The reason was a series of accidents in the region, including a fire in the Lame Horse, and they didn’t want to take risks with milk machines there.

One way or another, milk machines do not directly compete with packaged milk. For example, ABC of Taste reported that milk from milk machines is the undisputed leader in sales in the category, but there is no significant decline in sales of other milk items. A saleswoman at one of the stores said that they often buy both, a bottle of raw milk and a bottle of packaged milk: “It’s fresh, it needs to be used quickly, otherwise it might sit out.” The Edelweiss supermarket chain noted a slight decrease in sales of packaged milk after the installation of milk machines, but not a dramatic one. Quicker, we're talking about Experts and market participants believe that the consumption of dairy products is growing, because in Russia it is lower than in Europe.

That is, milk machines will definitely not become “killers” of traditional market players. Experts point to Italy, where milk machines account for 4–5% of milk sales. Andrei Danilenko believes that 5% for Russia is an optimistic forecast; the matter may be limited to 1%. Ayrat Khairullin agrees with such forecasts on average for Russia, but in Moscow, in his opinion, a share of 20% can be achieved. The question is whether our farmers will be able to successfully operate milk distribution networks, because the Russian market is very different from the Italian one.

Who doesn't get confused in the net?

“The Italians just want to sell the milk machine, but they don’t think about how to use it in Russia,” Ivan Solomakha complains about life. First, the Dubna+ company bought machines from three Italian manufacturers for testing. It turned out that one of the models does not provide for disassembly and the tank from yesterday’s milk must be washed right at the place where the milk machine is installed. This is a bit difficult, especially in the Russian winter. Yes, and in principle, wash it by morning a large number of milk machines installed in different places is problematic. Therefore, the company switched to machines with replaceable tanks, which are serviced centrally, next to the farm, for which a special production building was built.

And in general, European, in particular Italian, experience cannot be applied to Russia - it’s a different market, with different subjects.

In Italy, where there are 1.5 thousand milk machines, they are needed mainly by small family farms, which make up the majority among milk producers. “A farmer often puts a machine at the gate so as not to run a hundred times to neighbors who need milk, and can install a couple of milk machines in the village. Often small farms are united into a cooperative and buy milk machines together,” says Andrei Timoshenko. On average, there are only 1.5 milk machines per farmer, and the largest networks combine 7–10 machines. “That’s why it’s not difficult to wash the milk machine at the installation site,” explains GiuseppeNatoli, co-owner of the Italian manufacturer of milk machines Prometea.

Typically, farmers sell no more than 40% of their milk yield through milk machines. “Let’s just say that a farmer needs a milk machine not to buy new car, but to survive. If prices fall, buy boots, a jacket,” says DiegoFerronato, owner of the milk machine manufacturer DF-Italia. But a few milk machines won’t give even 10% of the turnover to a “large company”; it’s too difficult to develop large chains.

In Russia, the situation with milk production is different. According to Andrei Danilenko, the average farm here is five times larger than in Italy: 250 animals versus 50. Small family farms began to appear en masse quite recently. Ayrat Khairullin admits that someday such producers will be interested in the opportunity to sell milk through a milk machine. However, today the main interest in machines is among those who are larger, and this is logical - they have high-quality milking and cooling equipment on the farm, and, unlike small farms, they can afford not only to buy milk machines, but also to build the necessary infrastructure. There are approximately 15% of such farms in Russia out of 30 thousand.

The result is a more complex business model. “Italian farmers, how to say, only know how to do this. - One of the European manufacturers of milk machines shows me the milking process in the air. - Just don’t write this, I don’t want to offend anyone. And your farmers have an entrepreneurial mindset.” Indeed, in order to develop a large milk chain, a lot needs to be thought through: a special room for washing and filling tanks, filling a large number of machines at the right time, servicing complaints (such as “The machine ate the money”). A large network also requires large territorial coverage, so you need to build your own logistics. Finally, you need somewhere to put the leftover milk. In Dubna+, for example, they feed calves with them.

It would seem that in the same “Dubna+” all problems are successfully solved. Milk dispensers sell good volumes of milk, one machine is approximately the same as an average “convenience store”, that is, 150–300 liters per day. Now the company sells 10% of milk yield, or 3 tons per day, through milk machines, and in the summer it plans to increase sales to 35%, including by expanding the network. However, Ivan Solomakha admits that if factories had previously bought milk from them at the same price as now, 18 rubles, they would not have bothered with milk machines.

It is believed that it is not entirely correct for dairy farmers to go into processing and retail. “I finished my MBA and I understand that this is not according to the rules. There must be a conflict of interest,” says VladislavCheburashkin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Dubna+. True, when it comes to processing, many manufacturers are already breaking taboos, but retail still scares many. For example, the vertically integrated dairy holding Galaktika, having considered the idea of ​​launching a network of milk machines, abandoned it. “This requires complex logistics while guaranteeing the preservation of the quality of milk throughout the entire chain, from cow to consumer, with the stability of all its links,” explains Sergey Chalov.

However, the dairy business itself can suggest very original strategic solutions to the manufacturer and thereby distinguish it from its competitors. Thus, Dubna+ decided to complete the construction of a vertically integrated structure and acquire its own plant for the production of fermented milk products - yoghurts and curds, which it will package and also sell through vending machines. In addition, the company is ready to offer a franchise for the development of milk chains to farmers from other areas of the Moscow region.

In any case, the idea of ​​milk machines has already captured the minds of farmers. During the examination of one of the cars, I met a farmer from the Dmitrovsky district of the Moscow region. He said that he has few cows and he would like to install milk machines for 50% profitability, but he has no entrepreneurial spirit, and the north of the Moscow region is occupied with the A-Moloko brand. But that wasn't the end of the story. The farmer, it turns out, has an enterprising brother, and now they are making a plan to capture the market of neighboring regions.

The project, launched in 2015, has already reached self-sufficiency

To bookmarks

Today in the “Offline” section there is a project by Molokovend from Tomsk DI-Group. The company has established a full cycle production and supplies machines for selling fresh milk to Russian regions and Kazakhstan. The devices are designed for installation in trade pavilions and pour milk into buyer containers.

“Russia is a country not only of oil and gas, but also Agriculture. Considering that one of our specializations is the production of vending equipment, it was quite logical to add machines for selling rural products - natural milk - to our line,” recalls Igor Kovalev, co-owner of the Molokovend company, in a conversation with the site.

The manufacturer of vending machines is part of the DI-Group, which is owned in equal shares by Kovalev and his partner Dmitry Starodubtsev. Production is established in Tomsk, but the machine gun can be delivered anywhere in Russia. Among other projects of the group of companies: the production of kinetic (“touching”) sand, several other vending machines, its own line of equipment for 3D printing and a network of 150 football schools, in which 14 thousand children study.

The company producing milk machines employs 10 people. At the same time, DI-Group has general accounting, logistics, purchasing, and so on. Kovalev finds it difficult to name the volume of start-up investments, since the development of the project was carried out within the group of companies. But, according to him, production launched in 2015 has already reached self-sufficiency and is making a profit.

“Many clients are from the central part of Russia or Far East come to our production site to get acquainted with the equipment and communicate with specialists. By the way, last year there were first sales to Kazakhstan, the market for milk machines has just begun to take shape there, and agricultural producers have a huge interest in selling not only milk through the machine, but also national milk drinks: kumis and shubat,” says the entrepreneur.

Molokovend has several competitors on the Russian market who are also involved in the production and supply of such devices. “My friend and classmate from Siberia once saw vending machines with milk in Italy. Someone had already installed them in Russia, it seems, guys from Kazan, but I was suspicious of this topic. We settled on one of the Italian samples, met the owner, and have been working with him ever since. Now all that remains is to adapt the bill acceptor so that it works at minus 25 degrees,” Vladislav Cheburashkin, co-owner of the Cheburashkin Brothers dairy products manufacturing company, told Afisha in an interview.

In Tomsk, for marketing reasons, they decided not to rush into the production of frost-resistant machines. " Comparative analysis The volume of milk sales in a street milk machine and the one in the store showed that there are no significant differences in volumes. But at low temperatures, there are malfunctions in the operation of payment systems, the cost of a street machine is higher than usual, and you must admit that at minus 30 you want to quickly enter the premises, people will simply run past the milk machine,” explains Kovalev.

The head of the Molokovend project, Daria Shaorshadze, in a conversation with the site, emphasizes that the company’s own developments are implemented in the machines: “We replaced the steam sterilization of the dispensing compartment with ultraviolet light, as there were complaints about the competitor’s machine because of the high humidity and temperature in the compartment it smelled of sour milk. We have a system of “communication” with milk machines via SMS. You can remotely see the amount of money, the availability of change, and you can change some settings.”

Available on the Molokovend website ready-made business plans for those who want to buy a milk vending machine. According to manufacturers, the average payback period for one milk machine is six months. At the same time, the cost of one machine is 407 thousand rubles, and in order to get into the black as quickly as possible, the company advises starting with three machines.

Igor Kovalev says that the main factor on which payback depends is location: “You need to take into account the specifics - 90% depends on the location. It happens that you simply turn the machine in the other direction on the spot, and sales increase. All that remains is to experiment.”

There are several circumstances that hinder the development of the vending market for fresh dairy products. Thus, in 2015, almost all street milk machines were dismantled in Moscow. For some time, the city allocated plots for them free of charge, but after the experiment was completed, the owners were offered to buy the areas at auction. There is no information that at least one machine returned to its place after this.

In an interview with RBC, the head of the Moscow department of consumer services, Alexei Nemeryuk, explained then that Rospotrebnadzor is against selling milk through vending machines. “Unpasteurized milk is sold through milk machines, and when the temperature changes, for example when the electricity supply is cut off, it turns into poison. Access to the filling device, where the buyer inserts the bottle, is open, and any terrorist can smear poison on the feeding device,” the official said.

There are other bureaucratic problems as well. “Most often, our target buyer is an average farmer who sells milk for pennies to the plant and wants to increase the margins of his production. To do this, he needs milk machines, special transport, washing equipment, additional certification of products - all this requires costs, and there is only enough money to make ends meet. The only hope is to receive a targeted subsidy or at least a refund of interest on leasing,” explains Kovalev.

At the same time, milk machines from a legal point of view are not agricultural equipment, which complicates obtaining state support. However, according to the businessman, there are already separate precedents when farmers managed to convince local specialists that milk machines are necessary for the successful operation of the farm.

Finally, the main difficulty with which Rospotrebnadzor’s claims are connected lies in the legal status of raw milk. “Many farmers would like to sell raw milk, since they have a healthy herd, regularly undergo all checks, and there is demand from the target audience for such a product. However, legislatively, at the highest level, this issue remains open,” Kovalev complains.

According to him, in cities with a population of one million there is good potential for the development of trade in fresh dairy products through vending machines. “I would like to see a network of milk machines in Yekaterinburg, Omsk, Ufa and other large cities - these are the most promising areas at the moment. There are no milk dispensers there yet, but there is already a culture of vending; milk itself as a product will be taken everywhere, there are no problems with that,” says the businessman.

The article presents a detailed analysis of the activities of selling milk through vending machines, strengths and weaknesses of this business. From the material you will also learn where it is better to install milk machines, the cost of equipment, where it is better to install Russian model, where is the Italian one?

Milk dispenser- a vending machine for selling fresh milk, which looks like a refrigerator with a banknote or coin acceptor.

Scheme of operation of this vending business is simple: milk is bottled directly by the manufacturer into sealed replaceable kegs with a volume of 100 to 300 liters, which are then installed in the machines. At the end of the day, the remaining milk is drained and later used for the production of fermented milk products. The kegs are removed and washed with a special composition so that tomorrow they will be filled again with fresh, natural milk of high fat content.

The only operation that milk traditionally undergoes before being sent to the buyer is homogenization. This is a method of mechanical processing in which fat particles are broken down into almost imperceptible particles that are difficult to distinguish even with high microscope magnification. Homogenization prevents milk from settling, the formation of a layer of fat on its surface, and prevents clogging of milk supply pipes.

The main merit of milk machines for business is the opportunity to reduce the chain of intermediaries between the manufacturer and the final buyer in the form of processing plants and combines. “Milk is a ready-to-drink product”- farmers are sure, which means why should the buyer pay for pasteurization or sterilization, and why should producers agree to the dumping prices of procurement plants?!

It is for this reason that the first milk vending machines were created in the early 2000s in Switzerland. Today, there are at least 6 thousand milk vending machines installed throughout Europe, and there are about 10 thousand worldwide.

Molkomat in Switzerland

In Russia, the first Italian-made milk machines appeared in 2008, and already in 2012, the Krasnoyarsk Experimental Plant of the Russian Agricultural Academy presented the first domestic model, created with the support of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Science Foundation. At the moment, milk machines are installed in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Belgorod and Kazan, Novosibirsk, Voronezh and other Russian cities.

The target audience

It seems most appropriate to install milk vending machines where there is the highest traffic volume of potential buyers:

• V shopping centers And grocery stores ;
• in the halls of sanatoriums and hospitals;
• near underground passages and metro stations;
• on the central streets of residential areas;
• at public transport stops;
• V children's entertainment centers And cafe ;
• at food markets;
• in large fitness clubs.

But, as market participants note, the search for a suitable location is often complicated by the fact that grocery store owners often do not agree to install the machine, fearing a decrease in revenue from the sale of packaged pasteurized milk. And equipment intended for installation outdoors is much more expensive and can be damaged by vandals. In any case, milk vending machines are mobile point sales, which, if necessary, can always be moved to a more suitable location.

Molkomat on the streets of France

People purchase fresh milk using a vending machine different ages, gender, social status. However, the following trend is clearly visible: in the regions, milk machines are in greatest demand among older people who still remember imported barrels and have retained the habit of preferring raw milk.

In Germany

In large cities, a significant proportion of buyers are young, successful people aged 20 to 35 years. This is due to global fashion recent years for a healthy lifestyle. Young mothers who purchase fresh milk for self-made fermented milk products for your child.

Pros and cons of the business model

The strengths of the business are:

• Freshness, naturalness of products compared to the dairy assortment of grocery stores.
• The ability to offer the buyer more low price compared to pasteurized milk.
• Minimum staffing requirements.
• Possibility of placement in a minimal area: 1-2 m2 is enough.

TO weaknesses models include:

• Society is wary of raw milk due to its potential threat to human health. Therefore, for successful work, the owner of a milk vending network must either prove potential buyer absolute safety of their products, or switch to selling pasteurized milk, which goes against the main idea of ​​this business.
• Unclear prospects for this business. Thus, the sale of raw milk through milk machines is already prohibited in the USA and Scotland; in 2012 alone, 3 vending networks in Europe were forced to cease operations. The first Russian scandal related to milk machines occurred in St. Petersburg, when milk from the Krasnogvardeisky breeding plant caused the death of a child and the poisoning of several people. And although the court acquitted the EcoRos company, Gennady Onishchenko, who holds the post of Chief Sanitary Doctor of Russia, announced that he would do everything possible to stop the trade in unpasteurized milk in the country.
• A non-standard way of making a purchase, which can become an obstacle for older people.
• Difficulty in servicing the equipment compared to other vending machines.

Equipment overview

At the moment, the market for milk vending machines in Russia is represented by both domestic and foreign manufacturers. You can determine which of them best correspond to your business goals based on a comparative table.

Structurally, the devices are similar to each other: their operating principle is the same, as is the set of functions. But there are also significant differences. Firstly, the Italian device is more than 200 thousand rubles more expensive than the domestic one with almost the same dimensions. There is a simple explanation for this: the milk machine ECO Compact 100, unlike its competitor, has a vandal-proof housing and can be installed even outdoors. In addition, the Italian device’s equipment includes two interchangeable cartridges of 200 and 230 liters, as opposed to one 100-liter tank in the “Basic 01” model.

Thus, we can conclude: for indoor installation in places with low traffic, the milk machine from the Foodmilk company is quite sufficient. When installing the device near metro stations, at underground passages, in residential areas, as well as in those retail outlets where the demand for fresh milk is quite low high level It is more advisable to give preference to vandal-resistant milk machines ECO Compact 100.

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According to Nemeryuk, the owners of A-Molok were offered to refuse customers’ containers, but the company did not listen to the recommendations. “All coffee machines have access to dispensing devices - then they should also be banned? - Solomakha is upset. “All this is very similar to empty chatter, when instead of help and support, officials begin to give meaningless advice.”

The capital authorities, says the businessman, promised to make a decision on a permanent location based on the results of the experiment milk machines . “We were assured that by the end of 2014 a layout scheme would be developed vending machines throughout the city and auctions for renting places will begin, but this did not happen, says Solomakha . — We continued to sell milk, despite the fact that legal grounds We didn’t have it for that.” "The experiment is over, and they have no right to leave milk machines ", confirms Nemeryuk.

Now “A-Moloko” is collecting signatures from residents for an appeal to Mayor Sergei Sobyanin for milk machines left. So far, just over 1 thousand signatures have been collected.A February survey of Muscovites (through the Active Citizen application developed by the city) showed that 73.1% of citizens are ready to purchase goods in robot stores.

Vending in Moscow

25-30 thousand vending machines installed in Moscow

1-2 thousand rubles. — average monthly rental cost of 1 sq. m for a vending machine in the capital

12 thousand rubles. — the cost of a monthly rental of a space for a machine in the underground passages near the Kurskaya and VDNKh metro stations

73.1% of Muscovites ready to buy goods through vending machines

4 billion rubles per year can amount to revenues from the vending business to the capital budget

Source: data from the National Association of Automated Trade (NAAT), Federal State Institution "Gormost", survey of the mobile application "Active Citizen"

Doesn't work without Sharonov

The city authorities have been promising to create a unified layout for the placement of non-stationary retail facilities (NTO, which includes vending machines) for several years now. “This scheme is something ephemeral; on the contour maps, crosses indicate the permitted locations of objects,” says Olga Kosets, an entrepreneur and municipal deputy of Marushkino. — Such maps exist separately for each district of the city, for individual parks and departments - the metro, the Federal State Institution "Gormost".

For the first time, officials started talking about the general layout of the devices in the spring of 2012, when at a meeting of the interdepartmental commission (IMC) plans for the development of automated trade were considered. It was then assumed that by the end of 2015, up to 90 thousand vending machines would appear on the streets, in parks, at transport stops and in the metro, which would make it easier to purchase some simple things and products, and therefore increase the comfort and quality of the urban environment. The presentation of the Department of Trade and Services (available to RBC) indicated that this would increase city budget revenues by 4 billion rubles. in year.

By the spring of 2013, the Department of Trade and Services had developed general principles implementation of the Vending project. The presentation of the project for MVK (RBC has a copy) talks about minimum plans— annually place 10.5 thousand vending machines in 2013-2014. The project implementation schedule assumed that the facility placement scheme was to be approved on August 29, 2013, and the first auctions for the sale of rental places were to take place on September 11 of the same year.

“It was assumed that the diagram would indicate places where vending machines could be installed, and that electricity would already be supplied to them,” said one of the entrepreneurs who took part in the IMC meetings. “This would radically simplify the procedure for installing the device in urban areas.” All places were supposed to be sold at auction: from MVK presentations it follows that the average rental cost could be 23 thousand rubles. for 1 sq. m per year.

But the Vending project was never implemented. “Andrei Sharonov, who oversaw the project [former vice-mayor for economic policy of the city], left the mayor’s office in the fall of 2013, and there was no one to deal with this issue,” explains RBC’s interlocutor. — Existing ideas are scattered across different departments, reporting to various vice-mayors, who can only be forced to work together by Sobyanin personally. Surely he won’t deal with the vending problem himself?”

In addition, a market participant notes, the development of vending is in direct conflict with the fight against non-stationary trade,which is led by the Moscow government. “Compared to kiosks and tents vending creates fewer jobs, so its economic benefit to the city not obvious , he notes. — The fundamental difference in the approach Sharonova - he tried to develop simple and understandable rules for the operation of non-stationary trade, and now this has been replaced by various jam and cookie festivals, weekend fairs, which in no way solve the problem of the lack of trading infrastructure “near home”, do not increase revenues to the city budget, but allow all the time imitate the activity of the authorities in caring for citizens.”

The number of vending machines in the capital has increased by more than 60% over the past three years, to 25 thousand units, according to estimates by the National Association of Automated Vending (NAAT), but this is three times less than officials previously planned. In addition, the machines are located mainlyon private territory - in shopping centers and offices.

How to install a vending machine in Moscow

Vending machines, like kiosks, are non-stationary retail facilities(NTO) - to install them you need to take the same steps. According to the head of the department of trade and services, Alexei Nemeryuk, any citizen can submit a request to install an NTO: a resident of the district or an initiative group of residents, an entrepreneur or a representative public organization. “Moscomarchitecture is preparing a placement passport - looking at the geological basis, the possibility of connecting communications,” says Nemeryuk. — If installation of an object is possible, then a decision on it is made at a meeting of the interdepartmental commission. If the conclusion is positive, the machine turns on general scheme. After this, the competition policy department holds tenders for the lease of this site.”

Municipal deputy Olga Kosets adds that the mandatory consent of municipal deputies of the district in which the NTO is supposed to be installed is also required. “Having gone through various departments and authorities, the entrepreneur still has to win the auction for the right to lease the point created on his initiative,” explains Kosets. “In approximately 50% of cases, the initiator does not reach the final.”

The deputy proposes to simplify the procedure for the emergence of new retail outlets by holding public votes, for example through mobile app"Active Citizen", but so far this has not found support from the Commerce Department. “In this case, we will receive 100 thousand applications for the installation of kiosks and machines,” explains Nemeryuk. “Do we want to force all of Moscow into stalls again?”

Expensive rent

“It’s not all that bad,” NAAT President Boris Belotserkovsky told RBC. “The city has a new interest in the topic of vending trade, and a program for installing the first 450 machines has already been approved.” Nemeryuk confirmed that a new scheme for installing 4 thousand vending machines throughout the city has already been developed. “It has been approved by the Moscow Committee for Architecture, and the first auctions for rental rights will begin in the near future,” he emphasized. Press secretary of the Moscow Committee for Architecture and Architecture Maria Ulyanova said that the department has not yet approved any scheme.

At the end of April, an auction for the placement of vending machines was held by the Gormost Federal State Institution: lease rights for the installation of 151 machines for a period of 11 months were awarded in two lots. The first lot of the auction implied the appearance of machines near the zoo and at the exit from the Kurskaya and VDNH metro stations: it aroused the greatest interest among participants, the starting price more than doubled, to 9.9 million rubles. ; As a result, Iskra LLC received the right to install 76 machines Foodservice ", owned by St. Petersburg businessman Egor Spivakovsky. Spivakovsky's comment so far failed to obtain.

Belotserkovsky believes that the rental price at the auction was raised too high. “We also participated, but the price rose too much [to 12 thousand rubles. from the device per month], he explained. “Perhaps the winner intends to return part of the rent through advertising and marketing activities, for example, painting the machines in the colors of a certain brand.” According to Belotserkovsky, Moscow authorities consider vending very profitable business That's why they charge such high rental rates. According to him, the average market rate in Moscow is 10-20 thousand rubles. in year.

A representative of another company that participated in the Gormost auction is confident that inflated rental rates show that the authorities simply do not know how the vending business works. "The average income per coffee machine is 11 thousand rubles in Moscow. per month, snack - 25-30 thousand rubles. How can you pay rent of 5-12 thousand rubles with such a turnover? per month? he asks. — The profitability of a coffee machine still allows us to recoup such a rental, but who needs coffee from a machine when exiting the subway? The authorities do not want to deal with this area of ​​business seriously.”​

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