Who Makes the Snacks and Drinks in a Vending Machine?

Who makes what

The five companies behind most vending products

Most of what you see in a vending machine comes from five companies. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo make most of the drinks. PepsiCo also makes most of the chips, through Frito-Lay. The chocolate bars come mainly from Mars, Mondelēz and Nestlé. The brands on the buttons change from machine to machine, but the companies behind them don’t change much.

We’ve been stocking machines in Mississauga-area workplaces since 1971, and it’s one of the questions we hear when we look at a new site: what will actually be in the machine? Here’s who makes the products, and how we decide what goes into a machine at your location.

Drinks: Coca-Cola and PepsiCo

Two companies own most of the cold drinks you’ll find in a Canadian vending machine. Each has its own soft drinks, water, sports drinks and juice.

The Coca-Cola Company. In Canada, its brands include Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite and Fresca, plus Powerade and BODYARMOR on the sports drink side, Dasani and smartwater for water, and Minute Maid and Simply for juice.

PepsiCo. PepsiCo Beverages Canada makes Pepsi, Gatorade and Aquafina, along with other drinks.

That’s why a beverage machine usually looks like one family or the other. If you see Pepsi, you’ll probably see Gatorade and Aquafina next to it. If you see Coke, it’s more likely Powerade and Dasani.

Our beverage machines carry Coca-Cola or Pepsi products, and some carry both. We also place glass-front machines, can machines and Powerade machines, depending on the space and what people at the site drink.

Chips and salty snacks: mostly Frito-Lay

The chip rows in most machines belong to one company. Frito-Lay Canada is part of PepsiCo Foods Canada, and it’s the largest snack food manufacturer in the country, with plants in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia.

Its brands are the ones you’d expect to see behind the glass: Lay’s, Doritos, Ruffles, Cheetos and Tostitos. PepsiCo Foods Canada also includes Quaker, which makes granola bars and rice and corn snacks.

So when someone asks whether a machine is “a Pepsi machine,” the honest answer is that a lot of the snack side may come from PepsiCo too, even when the drinks are Coke.

Chocolate bars and candy: Mars, Mondelēz and Nestlé

Chocolate is where the list gets longer, and where Canada is a little different from the U.S.

• Mars Wrigley. M&M’s, Snickers, Twix and Skittles.
• Mondelēz. It owns Cadbury, so Dairy Milk, Caramilk, Mr. Big and Wunderbar are Mondelēz bars.
• Nestlé. Coffee Crisp, which started in Canada in 1939, and Aero. Nestlé also makes KitKat in most countries. The U.S. is the exception, where Hershey makes it under licence.

If your staff grew up with Coffee Crisp and Caramilk, those are worth asking for. Our snack machines can include chips, chocolate bars, cookies, granola bars, nuts and other grab and go snacks, and the mix is set for each location.

Granola bars, nuts and healthier snacks

A machine doesn’t have to be all chips and chocolate. Many of ours include granola bars, nuts, baked snacks and other lighter choices. On the drink side, options can include bottled water, flavoured water, juice and iced tea.

If people at your workplace want something more filling, refrigerated fresh food machines can carry sandwiches, wraps, salads and yogurt. And if healthier choices matter to your team, our page on healthier vending options explains what we can stock.

Quick reference: which company makes which brand

If you only need the short version, this is it. These are the brands people ask about most often, grouped by the company that owns them in Canada.

• The Coca-Cola Company: Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite, Fresca, Powerade, BODYARMOR, Dasani, smartwater, Minute Maid, Simply.
• PepsiCo: Pepsi, Gatorade, Aquafina, and through Frito-Lay, Lay’s, Doritos, Ruffles, Cheetos and Tostitos. Quaker granola bars too.
• Mars Wrigley: M&M’s, Snickers, Twix, Skittles.
• Mondelēz (Cadbury): Dairy Milk, Caramilk, Mr. Big, Wunderbar.
• Nestlé: Coffee Crisp, Aero, KitKat.

Two things surprise people. The first is how much of a “Coke machine” can still be PepsiCo once you count the chips. The second is that the chocolate bars Canadians think of as classics, like Coffee Crisp and Caramilk, come from two different companies.

Why the brand list matters for your breakroom

Brand loyalty is real at work. Someone who drinks Diet Coke every afternoon isn’t going to be happy with a machine full of Pepsi, and the reverse is true too. When a machine carries the wrong mix, people stop using it and start bringing drinks from home or leaving the site to buy them.

Three questions help before a machine goes in:

• Coke or Pepsi? Ask a few people, or look at what’s already in the staff fridge. If the answer is split, a site can have both.
• Who’s buying, and when? A plant running night shifts buys differently from a dealership lounge where customers wait on a vehicle.
• Cans or bottles? A crew that drinks one can on a short break may want a can machine. A site where people carry a drink back to their desk may prefer bottles in a glass-front machine.
• What’s missing today? If people keep asking for something, that’s the first thing to add.

The brands make the products. The vending company runs the machine

It’s easy to assume Coca-Cola or Pepsi looks after the machine in your breakroom because their logo is on the front. In a full-service program, that work is done by the vending company.

For us, that means we bring the machine, install it, buy the products, keep the rows full, fix it when something breaks and handle refunds when a machine takes someone’s money. Every machine has a service sticker with a number to call or text, so your staff never have to track down a brand’s head office.

That’s also why the selection in two machines with the same logo can look very different. The brand sets what it makes. The operator decides which of those products go into your machine, how often it’s restocked and what gets swapped out when it doesn’t sell.

How we choose what goes into your machines

We don’t fill a new machine from a fixed list. We look at the space, ask how many people work there and what they buy, and recommend the machines and products that fit. After that, we watch what sells and adjust the selection based on feedback.

We restock the machines ourselves, so products stay fresh and the popular rows don’t sit empty. If something stops selling, it comes out. If your team asks for a brand, we look at adding it.

Everything is placed, stocked and serviced at no cost to your business, with no long-term contracts. Many of our machines also accept debit cards, credit cards and mobile wallets, so people who don’t carry cash can still buy a drink.

If you already have a vending company and the selection never changes, our guide on how to switch vending companies walks through the steps.

Common questions about vending machine brands

Does Coca-Cola own Pepsi? No. The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo are separate companies and direct competitors. Each one owns its own drinks.

Who owns Doritos and Lay’s? PepsiCo, through Frito-Lay Canada. Ruffles, Cheetos and Tostitos are Frito-Lay brands too.

Is KitKat made by Nestlé or Hershey? Nestlé makes KitKat in most countries. In the U.S., Hershey makes it under licence.

Who owns Gatorade and Powerade? Gatorade is a PepsiCo brand. Powerade belongs to The Coca-Cola Company. They sit on opposite sides of the Coke and Pepsi split, which is why you rarely see them in the same machine unless it carries both.

Can one vending machine carry both Coke and Pepsi? Yes. Some of our machines carry both, so a site with a split crowd doesn’t have to pick a side.

Can we choose the brands in our vending machine? You can tell us what people want. We set the mix for each location, and we adjust it based on feedback and on what actually sells.

Do we pay for the machines or the products? No. We place, stock and service the machines at no cost to your business. People pay for what they buy at the machine.