Modernising Outdoor Vending Machines at London Zoo
About
Food Vending
13 Mar 2026
London Zoo is one of the UKs most visited attractions with over 1.1 million visitors annually. Since visitors usually spend the whole day at the zoo the demand for food and drink is constant and spread across the entire 36 acres much of which sits far beyond the reach of the cafe and main restaurant.
The Challenge
Since London Zoo owned all their vending machines outright the service and maintenance responsibilities sat with the ZSL internal team so instead of conducting preventative maintenance, which can extend a vending machines lifespan, the issues were only addressed once a breakdown occurred. This approach to service and maintenance not only costs more but it also results in more downtime which prevents visitors from using the vending machine.
The payment systems that were on the vending machines that London Zoo already owned also presented a problem. The food and drink vending machines were coin operated which is less than ideal in a time where people are using cash less and less.
Stock management added another layer of challenges for London Zoo. Without any real-time visibility into the inventory and no telemetry software available in the old vending machines the vending machines were frequently running half empty. A half empty vending machine not only negatively impact sales, but it also signals of neglect and can deter visitors from using the vending machine. The stock levels combined with the physical appearance of the snack vending machines gives the overall impression that it was a service that was left to fend for itself.
Connect Vending’s Solution
Connect Vending replaced the existing fleet with six brand new vending machines and positioned them across the zoo in high footfall outdoor locations. The modern vending machines also came with a technical maintenance service contract which included two preventative measure service visits a year, the results of these visits have been 88% of the machines passing their audits first time without needing repairs. This “DIY” contract allows ZSL staff to still use their existing wholesale company for their food and beverage, but with the reassurance that our engineers are always on hand (89% of our callouts arrive in less than 4 working hours) should anything go wrong.
The shift to cashless payment addressed the coin problem directly. All six machines exclusively accept card and mobile transactions, removing the friction of needing exact change and opening the machines up to a significantly wider audience. The change has had a measurable impact on sales, and it also eliminates the daily task of collecting and reconciling cash which is a small but meaningful reduction in administrative overhead for the ZSL team.
The machines are also built for the environment they operate in. Each unit is fitted with a protective cage to guard against weather exposure and the wear that comes with a high-footfall outdoor site, protecting the hardware and reducing the risk of damage-related downtime. The result is a service that looks and feels like it belongs at a world-class visitor attraction maintained, stocked, and operational whenever a visitor needs it.