We tried 3 meals from a vegan vending machine that's about to blow up the fast-food scene -- here's the verdict

Lamiaa Bounahmidi may have a solution to your diet woes: a vending machine.

Bounahmidi is leading a San Francisco-based startup called leCupboard, which dispenses healthy, personalised, prepared meals out of vending machines. The startup’s goal is to get people to think differently about healthy food by making it as convenient as fast-food.

Customers simply press a button on one of the machines — which Bounahmidi calls “cupboards” — and out comes a vegan snack or meal in a reusable glass container. The dishes range in price from $US6-$US13, and most are high in protein and whole grains.

LeCupboard’s seven locations are all in downtown San Francisco, in semi-private spaces like coworking areas, schools, and hospitals.

My leCupboard taste test

On a recent visit to one vending machine, I ordered and sampled three different items, each of which was filling enough to stand on its own.

Bounahmidi recommended I start with a lighter dish as a sort of appetizer, then try a more filling main course, followed by a dessert. I tapped my selection on leCupboard’s touch screen, and was able to enter any dietary restrictions. Options included “avoid gluten” and “avoid nuts” — if I had used it, the feature would have excluded options that included those ingredients — but since I don’t have Celiac or an allergy, I skipped that step.

Within 30 seconds, my first entree came out ready to eat. Read more

Erin Brodwin - Business Insider Australia - 15 Oct 2017