Who doesn’t know the typical vending machines selling sweets and drinks that you can safely store for months (if not years/decades)? The logic is simple: If not selling fresh products, the risk is lower that products go bad, thus products don’t need to be replaced so often, which reduces the frequency the service personnel have to visit the machine. On the contrary, this also means that the products sold are usually the opposite of fresh and healthy…

This “Regio Box” found in the countryside in the city center of a small village in Bavaria is following a different approach: The products sold are of high quality, mostly regionally produced and fresh. The Regio Box is essentially a theft-protected fridge taking over the role of a tiny corner shop, offering basic goods such as milk, eggs, butter and all kinds of different meat and sausages.

Especially in smaller villages in which corner shops are usually open only for a few hours during the week, this vending machine is a great idea as neighbors and passers-by can buy simple ingredients also outside the usual opening hours while local food producers can advertise their products.