Notes from the route
Practical notes on office coffee, vending, and water for GTA workplaces. Written by Sam Foti — eight years of running routes across Vaughan and the surrounding GTA.
Already have office coffee? Here's what it changes about your vending machine
A Vaughan operator on how existing office coffee changes what your vending machine should stock — and why ready-to-drink coffee sells in one spot and dies in another.
Will your office actually use a vending machine? An honest look
Wondering if a vending machine is worth it for your Vaughan office? An honest, owner-operated take on what makes an office machine get used — or ignored.
Coffee out of a machine: how workplace coffee vending actually works
What's the difference between a coffee vending machine and an office bean-to-cup? A Vaughan operator on how workplace coffee machines work, what they pour, and who pays.
How many employees does your office need for a vending machine to make sense?
Wondering if your office is big enough for a vending machine? It's not just headcount. Here's what actually determines whether a machine works — and the smaller-office options.
Cashless vending: you don't have to ditch cash, but you need card readers
A Vaughan route operator on the cashless vending question — why you don’t have to go fully cashless, but card readers aren’t optional when two-thirds of revenue runs through them.
Office water: plumbed-in vs. bottled coolers (and where filtration fits)
A Vaughan route operator on office water — plumbed-in bottleless units vs. bottled coolers, the upfront-vs-long-run cost trade-off, and how filtration fits either way.
Snack, drink, or combo: which vending machine setup fits your office?
A Vaughan route operator on why two machines usually beat a combo — the cost and capacity math, and the two cases where a combo vending machine actually makes sense.
Should your office buy its own vending machine? An operator's honest take
A Vaughan route operator on why running your own office vending machine usually isn't worth it — the time it sinks, and what actually breaks (and what those repairs cost).
What to ask a vending company before you put a machine in your office
A Vaughan route operator on the four questions that separate a good vending company from a bad one — experience, service schedule, product mix, and response time.
What actually sells in a workplace vending machine (and what makes one work)
A Vaughan route operator on what really moves in a workplace vending machine — the bestsellers, stocking to your actual team, where the machine should go, and what separates one people use from one that sits half-empty.
Healthy office vending: what teams ask for vs. what actually sells
A Vaughan route operator on why "healthy vending" so often fails — what office teams actually buy, and how to build a mix that gets used instead of stocked and ignored.
What does office coffee actually cost a GTA business? The honest breakdown
A Vaughan route operator on what actually drives the cost of office coffee — consumables, machine type, and volume — plus the DIY costs that never show up on the receipt.
How to choose office coffee for your GTA team
A Vaughan route operator's framework for picking the right office coffee setup — bean-to-cup, single-cup pod, or traditional drip — based on how your team actually uses coffee at work.
Vending in the workplace: free vs subsidized vs paid
A Vaughan route operator's breakdown of the three vending payment models — paid full-price, subsidized, and free — and how to pick the one that fits your team.