How do I check a vending route’s product spoilage and expired stock?

Do not rely on the seller’s summary. Pick several stops without warning and open each machine. Look at the dates on sandwiches, dairy, fresh fruit and anything else that spoils. Notice whether the oldest items sit at the front or are buried behind newer ones. A rotation habit is easy to see in a few minutes.

Next, visit wherever stock is stored. Check the shelves and any cooler or fridge for expired or damaged product, and ask how it is disposed of. Ask whether suppliers take back unsold perishables or whether the operator absorbs the loss.

Then ask for the records. You want the log of stock written off, the purchase orders and the sales for the same stops, so you can see whether certain machines keep losing product. Frequent loss at one site may mean the location does not suit what is sold there. Pay attention to refrigeration too. A cooling unit that drifts warm spoils stock quietly and may also create a food-handling problem. Ask your accountant how stock on hand is counted in the sale price, so that expired product is not included. Ask who orders the stock and whether they order by habit or from sales.

Key takeaways

• Open the machines yourself rather than trusting a summary.
• Compare write-off records against sales at each stop.
• Confirm expired stock is excluded when inventory is counted.
• Ask how often fresh items are thrown out and whether that loss is built into the margins shown.