Enrique Tomás, the renowned ham entrepreneur, has found a new growth vein in the vending sector. After the success of its business in airports, where it has sixty restaurants, it has decided to venture into the sale of ham sandwiches through vending machines.
Its experience in the Aena network has allowed it to enter this new market and earlier this year, it was awarded the contract to operate all the food and beverage vending machines at El Prat Airport.
In order to maximize this new sales channel, Enrique Tomás has ambitious plans. He wants to bring the “dispensing tents” to subway stations in Barcelona and Madrid and also hopes to have his ham sandwiches in airplanes, buses, large companies and soccer stadiums.
Its intention is to become the reference snack during sporting events and to offer its products to all travelers and passengers.
Enrique Tomás’ plan is to have a fleet of 20,000 “GO!urmet dispenser stores” within a year. Currently, at Barcelona Airport, it already has 30 machines selling its ham sandwiches and soon expects to increase that figure to 40.
The goal is to sell 3,000 ham sandwiches every day at El Prat and reach an annual turnover of 10 million euros, which also includes the sale of beverages, chocolate and snacks.
The vending business: ham sandwich vending machines
To ensure the success of this new format, Enrique Tomás has created the “Tomasón”, an infallible and delicious snack that is presented as an ideal option for customers who choose vending.
It is a soft brioche-type bread sandwich filled with ham shavings, obtained naturally from the slicing process of the hams sold by the company.
The ham entrepreneur has found a strategic ally in Alliance Vending, with which he has installed a total of 177 machines at the airport.
The ham company supplies eleven types of sandwiches and ham sachets to these machines, while Alliance Vending offers hot and cold drinks, chocolates and other snacks.
Enrique Tomás is looking to multiply this alliance and expects that one out of every four machines in Alliance Vending’s fleet will be Alliance Vending brand snacks.
And now, the metro network
The next step for Enrique Tomás is to expand into the Metro networks of Madrid and Barcelona. In Madrid, it has reached an agreement with IVS Group, the company that won the vending tender, to install some machines in the stations.
In addition, it is in talks with TMB to conduct a pilot test with nine machines in the Barcelona Metro at the end of the year.
