Fresh and warm: hot dogs from a vending machine
MeiCook, a team from the Adlershof Founder’s Lab, wants to drive forward the development of the food industry
With support from the Berlin Startup Scholarship, an international team made up of people from Armenia, Germany, and Turkey is developing the city’s first hotdog vending machine. The prototype is already in the starting blocks.
Put in some money, push the button, choose a sauce, and off you go. The bun warms up while the wiener is grilled. The latter then drops into the bun and the only thing missing is the sauce. The choice is between ketchup, chilli sauce, or mustard – something for everybody. The transparent machine lets customers follow the entire preparation process very closely.
The cooking system, circuit board, and software were developed by the team of MeiCook, which has been participating in the Adlershof Founder’s Lab for a year now. Bread, sausage, and sauce dispensers as well as the heating system for the buns are also self-developed innovations. “The packaging system for the hotdogs, too, was designed and developed by us,” says Davit Bulghadaryan, creator of the hotdog vending machine.
“We get the sausages from Germany. They are made of chicken, which means they are also halal,” says Eleonora Bulghadaryan, who has a PhD in communication studies and is the project and marketing manager at MeiCook. Her brother Davit has a bachelor’s degree in computer science and applied mathematics. It all began with a design they created at home, which they moved to a real factory together with three mechanical engineers. The team is made up of five people from Armenia, Germany, and Turkey. Together, they want to drive forward the development of the food industry: “Our vending machines make it possible to save many resources and work in a more ecologically friendly way,” of that Eleonora Bulghadaryan is convinced.
The ingredients are only prepared when an order is placed. The team of MeiCook was prompted to think more deeply about these matters because of the way resources are unevenly distributed across the world. They want their vending machine to help prevent food waste.
“The machines are quite smart. You have access at any time and can see how much was produced and sold. We only refill the exact amount that is needed. This is also important to keep everything fresh.” To fill up eight vending machines, you need one employee who can manage the route by bike.
MeiCook is currently further developing the prototype for 2021 and is also planning to add a grill function for vegetarian sausages. Initially, the machines will be set up in Berlin’s Spätkauf shops, local corner stores that are open all hours. “This is where you typically find people who want something warm to eat late at night,” says Davit Bulghadaryan. But hospitals, emergency rooms, and train stations are also potential buyers for the vending machines. The company is already receiving orders from all over Germany and beyond: “From the US, Canada, France, Norway, and Egypt – we will have to work hard to meet the demand.”
Bulghadaryan has a dream “We want basic needs such as food to be affordable for everyone, anywhere, and anytime. Automation in the food industry can achieve this.” The first vending machine will be set up in a convenience store in Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg district (Danziger Straße 41). This is followed by a further stage of improvement and the machine will go into mass production at the Berlin-based Promess GmbH by mid-2024. They are starting in Germany – but MeiCook likes to think big: “We can fight world hunger by automating the food industry.”
Helen Arnold for Adlershof Journal