Doing good better.

It took over twenty years for Jakob Gerhardt to develop the original idea that satisfied his vision of a marketable product: a hot drinks vending machine that featured fundamental improvements in comparison to conventional vending machines.

Jakob Gerhardt first encountered coffee vending machines in 1965 as an independent sales representative. In 1969 he founded his own wholesale business for these products in Swabian Bempflingen, soon realising the strengths and weaknesses of the various vending machine brands. Consequently, he developed his own ideas and solutions for improved machines. His “tinkering“ however did not bear fruit until 1994: when the first original Gerhardt hot drinks vending machine made its debut.

In 2003 Jakob Gerhardt handed over the business, which today employs a staff of over 30, to his two sons.

The inventive Swabian spirit is still going strong. The revolutionary new line in hot drinks vending machines proves that great concepts come as standard at Gerhardt.

This series — the fourth generation of vending machines — was developed, tested and changed over the years. After all, if you’re developing something new because existing solutions have been superseded by better ideas, you still need time to gain the required experience. And, if you’re committed to endowing your products with maximum quality and reliability, that’s going to take a little longer as well. In the end though, the higher investment in time pays off, putting a rather different complexion on the ”time is money“ principle.