News & Reviews

Healthier Snacks in a Snap
As a corporate fitness consultant, Laurent Amzallag said a lot of his clients have hectic schedules and therefore rely on snacks purchased at vending machines to get a quick infusion of energy. 

By David S. Spence - The Gazette
Laurent Amzallag founded Bethesda's Snappy Snacks more than two years ago to provide people with a healthy alternative to the chips, candy bars, sodas and other types of junk food that are typically found in vending machines.
Employees at manufacturing facilities who work night shifts, for example, don't always have the option of running out to the nearest restaurant or grocery store, so vending machines are critical for these workers, Clark said. One of Snappy Snacks' larger clients is Bethesda's National Institute of Health, which employs more than 15,000 people.  "It's a good alternative to help employees with their choices, because food appeals to people in different ways," said Randy Schools, president and CEO of the Recreation and Welfare Association Inc., which oversees vending machines services at NIH. There are several Snappy Snacks vending machines at NIH, and workers, up to this point, have been receptive to the products offered, said Schools. To ensure customer satisfaction, Amzallag conducts taste tests when setting up vending machines for new clients. "Then, from the start, we know what people like so we don't waste their tiem," he said. Snappy Snacks offers more than 100 products in its vending machines, which themselves are free of charge to clients; Amzallag only makes money off what people purchase from the vending machines.	Besides business and government organizations, Amzallag is also trying to get contracts with area schools but so far has had little success. That is, in part, due to some schools having contracts with companies such as Atlanta's Coca Cola Co. and Pepsi-Cola Co. of Purchase, N.Y. which in many cases give back a portion of the money they make from these vending machines to the schools. However, Coca-Cola announced March 14 that it will no longer enter into exclusive contracts with schools, an indication that Snappy Snacks might be able to eventually land some of its vending machines in schools. "If you're going to snack, you might as well snack healthy," Amzallag said, adding that this is particularly true for children and young adults, whose bodies are developing. "About 80 percent of body changes are through nutrition, so no matter how much your work out, nutrition is the key," he said. -- Neil Adler

However, snacks found in traditional vending machines, --- potato chips, candy bars, and sodas to name a few --- are mostly high in fat and calories. 

As a result, about two years ago Amzallag founded Snappy Snacks, a Bethesda firm that offer healthier snacks, drinks and meals to employees of U.S. government organizations and private businesses in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

The four-person company, which has a warehouse in Rockville where the products are stored, made $50,000 in 2000, and Amzallag expects to make twice that amount this year.

His fitness business, DAL International was launched four years ago and earned $200,000 last year, he said. It specializes in corporate employee programs and full-service management of fitness facilities.

Ranging in price from 55 cents to $2.50, Snappy Snacks items, while lower in fat than conventional vending machine products, are not fat-free, but they contain only natural ingredients and no additives or preservatives, Amzallag said.

"People are not going toward zero fat. They're going to healthier eating habits," he said.

Products in Snappy Snacks vending machines include flavored soups, energy bars, chocolates, fruit snacks, pretzels, potato chips, natural juices, sodas -- such as Blue Sky All Natural Cola -- and ready-to-eat meals that can be heated in the microwave.

Amzallag said the companies he buys products from are willing to sell them at  fairly low prices, because of the exposure they get from being in Snappy Snacks vending machines. He also plans to begin selling products under the Snappy Snacks name in the next two weeks. 

More than $36 billion worth of products were sold via vending machines in 1999, compared to $22 billion in 1990, said Jackie Clark, director of public relations in the National Automatic Merchandising Association in Chicago, a trade association with 2,500 members in the merchandise vending, office coffee service and contract food service industries.

She said vending machines are playing a much more important role in today's society, because many people are working longer hours and only have time to get a quick snack from the nearest vending machine.