CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- You've likely seen them at O'Hare Airport, at the Merchandise Mart, the hospital or even on Chicago's many college campuses, but Farmer's Fridge has humble beginnings. The company is the brainchild of Luke Saunders, 32, who was sick of traveling and eating Cheetos, M & M's and Cinnabons.
"I have a manufacturing and sales background and I was traveling a lot," Saunders said. "I had a lot days on the road. I was driving 1,000 miles a week and a lot of times, the only option was a vending machine or fast food. I started thinking. how can I make fresh, healthy meals as accessible as a candy bar?"
Saunders said he had no background in the food industry but the idea was born more from his experience as a traveler.
"If we make fresh food every day, get it to customers the same day, what would that look like and how would it work? That's how I backed into the idea of a vending machine," he said.
Farmer's Fridge launched in 2013 with a single vending machine that offered fresh, handmade meals, mostly packaged in jars.
"I looked online to find a trade show for the vending industry," Saunders said. "It was a combination of touch screen and vending technology. Some woodworkers out of Batavia helped me to build the first Farmer's Fridge. It's a refrigerator box with motors in it and an elevator so the food gets picked up and delivered at waist height."
The tech-savvy machines feature touch screens for ordering and are also app-enabled, allowing users to both order and scan the inventory of fridges nearby.
The heart of Farmer's Fridge begins in a large production kitchen on West Lake Street.
"Our drivers show up and they deliver salads all night, over night and customers show up and buy them the next day," he said. "That whole process repeats 365 days a year."
Six years in, 160 employees and 215 fridges later, Saunders said they've now moved into the Milwaukee area.
"What we've been able to fill a gap where a restaurant ends and vending machine begins. It's really a restaurant quality meal from a vending machine."
Saunders said he is proud that his local business is now starting to expand its reach.
"I'm not sure people realize this business was started here in Chicago, built from the ground up here in Chicago and 100% Chicago based."