Boosting Passenger Satisfaction with 24/7 Food & Drink at East Midlands Airport

Located in the heart of England. East Midlands Airport connects over 4.2 million passengers with the world every year.  Airlines including Jet2, Ryanair, and Tui fly passengers to more than 80 leisure and business destinations from this popular regional airport.

Refreshment provisions for consumers and staff were limited to airside retail outlets or traditional vending machines. Many of these were closed during the early hours of the day or late at night, meaning many staff and consumers had no access to fresh food or hot drinks.

Instead they were limited to cold drinks, crisps and confectionary.  The airport wanted to provide fresh food, snacks and hot drinks 24/7 to better meet the needs of  staff and passengers.

East Midlands Airport asked Selecta to provide an unattended retail solution for a vacant retail site located in the check-in hall. The solution needed to be quick and easy for people to use, as well as offer a wide range of on-trend, fresh food, snacks and chilled drinks.

Fresh food
As fresh food was an important requirement, Selecta’s fresh food solution: Foodies Grab & Go, consisting of Smart Fridges, was the perfect solution!

Contactless payments and weighted shelves
Smart Fridges use contactless payments and weighted shelves to  allow people to see what’s available, check ingredients and make multiple purchases in one easy transaction. As payment is pre-authorised before the doors are opened, the fridges are secure and reduce the risk of theft.

Consumer trend & waste minimization
The Smart Fridges are filled with a wide range of fresh sandwiches, salads, confectionary, crisps, snacks and cold drinks. Sales data allows for the range to be modified over time to suit consumer trends and minimise wastage.

Lavazza coffee solution
In addition to the Foodies Grab & Go solution, Selecta proposed Lavazza for the hot beverage solution, using a Crane Cali bean-to-cup machine.  This means that travellers and staff can enjoy a premium beverage using fresh beans and fresh milk, at a reasonable price.

Vending machines
Besides the Foodies Grab & Go, several vending machines were also relocated airside to make them more accessible to people in key areas around the airport.

The Foodies Grab & Go solution has proved popular with staff and passengers looking for a quick drink or bite to eat.

It has achieved triple-digit increases in revenue and average transaction value compared to the previous separate vending solutions. 47% of transactions are now multibuys rather than single item transactions.