Fitness & Recreation
Your gym is open 24 hours. Your juice bar isn't.
A gym vending machine stocked with candy and sports drinks leaves money on the floor. 8Kava smart coolers and connected vending sell protein shakes, electrolyte drinks and recovery snacks at any hour, take app or tap payments, and stock the 5 a.m. crowd and the 7 p.m. crowd separately. Outdoors, the same platform runs solar coolers at trailheads and ball fields.
- sales, no staff
- 24/7sales, no staff
- checkout accuracy
- 99.4%checkout accuracy
- door release after a tap
- < 1 sdoor release after a tap
The sale happens after the last set, not at the front desk.
Members walk out thirsty and hungry, past a front desk that may not be staffed. What they reach for is specific: ready-to-drink protein shakes, electrolyte drinks, cold-pressed juice, protein bars and fruit. A Kava Cooler holds them at 33–41 °F, and the door releases in under a second after a tap, so a member can buy on the way to the car without breaking stride.
Gear is a different job. Lifting straps, earplugs, padlocks and phone cables fit the spirals of a Kava Vend V4 or open shelving with a Kava Kiosk K1. Rec centers can lend paddles, balls and towels from Kava Lockers opened by badge, code or app.
- Planograms by time of day: shakes in the morning, meals in the evening.
- Member pricing and loyalty through Payments & Loyalty.
- No cash to count and no register to staff.
Formats by facility
24-hour gyms
Shakes and hydration by the free weights or the exit. 30 inches wide, up to 240 items. $5,900, or $189 a month.
Clubs and studios
A small micro-market with a barcode scanner and vision for fruit and bakery. Works with your existing shelves. $2,900.
Rec centers
Snacks, drinks and small gear in 40 selections behind glass, with guaranteed vend refunds. $6,700, or $209 a month.
Equipment loaners
Paddles, balls and towels checked out by badge, code or app, with door sensors that know what came back.
Trailheads and fields
Weatherized, solar-ready cold water and snacks where there's no building. IP55, rated from −22 °F to 113 °F.
The machine you already have
$349 adds cashless, telemetry and remote pricing to an existing vending machine in about 22 minutes.
Payments members already use
Tap or wallet
Contactless cards and mobile wallets at the door. A first-time buyer needs nothing new.
App and QR
Members can check out with the Kava app or QR, and the Kava OS API can link to your membership system for member pricing.
Loyalty and bundles
A post-workout bundle, a member price or a tenth-shake-free card, set up in Payments & Loyalty.
No convenience fees
Shoppers never pay a cashless fee. Bring your own processor at no markup, or use Kava Pay at interchange-plus 0.35% + $0.05.
How demand moves through a gym day
- 4:58 a.m.
The early crowd
Lifters and runners before work. Shakes and cold brew move first, so the overnight restock puts them at eye level.
- 12:15 p.m.
Lunch-hour class
A quick session, then a bar and a drink on the way back to the office.
- 5:30 p.m.
Peak hour
The busiest stretch of the day. The forecast sized the afternoon par levels for exactly this.
- 9:45 p.m.
League night ends
At the rec center, teams come off the courts and clear out the electrolyte drinks.
- Overnight
The cooler rests
Adaptive compressor scheduling eases off while the floor is quiet, part of a 19% energy reduction per refrigerated unit.
Front desk, old machine or smart cooler
| Staffed front desk or juice bar | Old snack machine | 8Kava smart cooler | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hours | Staffed hours only | 24/7 | 24/7 |
| Assortment | Wide, often made to order | Candy, chips, sports drinks | Shakes, juice, fruit, real meals |
| Payment | Register or member account | Cash, sometimes card | Tap, wallet, Kava app or QR |
| Cost to run | Labor every open hour | Route visits on a fixed schedule | Restocks when the forecast says so |
| Data | Register reports | Whatever the route driver writes down | Item-level sales by hour |
What changes after the switch
Your members pay for the hour. Who sells them the minutes after?
Most clubs earn from the membership and leave recovery to the convenience store down the road. A member who just finished a workout is thirsty, hungry and standing near your exit. If the shake they want is in your cooler, the sale is yours; if it isn't, it belongs to someone else. What does your facility sell between the last rep and the parking lot?
Gym vending FAQ
Can members pay through our app or membership account?
Members can check out with the Kava app or QR, and the Kava OS API can connect to your membership system for member pricing or account billing. We scope that connection before install. Contactless cards and mobile wallets work for everyone else.
Will a cooler work at a trailhead with no power?
Yes, where the sun allows. Kava Outdoor O1 is built to IP55 and runs from −22 °F to 113 °F; paired with the SC-800 canopy (800 W of panels and a 5 kWh battery), it needs no grid connection. See outdoor solar units.
Who stocks it?
Your staff, your current vending operator on Kava OS, or Managed Operations. Forecasts and pre-kitted pick lists keep each restock short.
What does it cost?
A Kava Cooler C2 is $5,900, or $189 a month on a 36-month Vending-as-a-Service term with Kava OS Pro and service included. Kava Vend V4 is $6,700, or $209 a month. Kava OS on purchased hardware starts at $19 per device per month. See pricing.
Where to go next
Sell recovery where the workout ends.
Tell us about your club, rec center or trail system. We'll recommend the format, the assortment and the payment setup for your members.