Vegan Vending Machines Roll Out in San Francisco

Plant-based startup leCupboard will install the first two of its planned 200 food vending machines in San Francisco next month. The company—which is working with $2.2 million in capital funding—first opened a storefront in the Noe Valley neighborhood in June. Founder Lamiaâ Bounahmidi aims to expand her “food as medicine” concept across the country in the form of interactive plant-based vending machines that sell options such as chia pudding breakfast jars, lentil salads with cashew cheese and pumpkin seeds, and zucchini noodles with walnut pesto, for approximately $8 per meal. “The goal is to reconnect preventative healthcare with food,” Bounahmidi said. “Everyone is going around talking about food as medicine, but there is more to it than going organic or eating vegetables.” Bounahmidi plans to introduce a total of 30 vending machines in San Francisco in the next three months and up to 200 machines nationwide within one year.