The office vending machine, with its carbohydrate-laden cookies, candy bars and potato chips, is probably the last place the numerous Americans on low-carb diets would think to go for a snack.
But a company in Beverly Hills, California, is hoping Atkins apostles and South Beach Diet sympathizers will rush to pump quarters into what it is calling the “first low-carb vending machines” in the United States.
Pure Foods LLC Friday announced the launch of the machines, which will include Atkins-branded shakes and bars, as well as other low-carb items. The machines will carry 17 snacks and eight low-carb beverages, the company said.
Seventeen percent of Americans have tried the Atkins diet, arguably the most popular of the high-protein weight-loss plans, according to data from NPD Group, a market research company.
The company, which also operates two low-carb stores, in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica, California, said it is negotiating with an unnamed hotel chain that is considering 480 vending machines in 60 properties.