Walking around campus this semester, it’s impossible not to notice the absurd number of new vending machines. Almost every library and learning hub has wall-to-wall food and drink dispensers.
This is not random. A University spokesperson confirmed to Honi Soit that they were “trialing a new range of vending machines” as part of a larger plan to increase food options.
Rushing past the Carslaw learning hub, you will spot a (broken) machine advertising hot pizza. If you are desperate for a meal late at night at ABS, there is a mini mart selling microwavable hotdogs and burgers, among other ready meals.
While many new offerings exist, no machine is more interesting or important than the Flying Turtle. Located in four areas, including Fisher, Carslaw, and ABS, the machines are not merely a way to get a sweet treat but serve over 180 unique combinations of drinks, including coffees, teas, sodas, protein shakes, and smoothies.
According to the University spokesperson, the machines make up a whopping one-third of all vending machine revenue on campus, despite only arriving this January.
Every part of the machine’s design rewards continued engagement. Students choose if they want their drinks iced or hot, the sugar level, and whether they want a straw (save the turtles!). Many of the drinks cost under $4, and all include a cup of chewable hollow ice. If that was not enough, a loyalty program, which 80 per cent of USyd users are signed up for, allows students to collect points. The prices are so good, one Reddit post asked people if the machine was a scam.
The Thai company that owns the machines told Honi it operates 150 across Australia, with 36 in Sydney. Getting your fix off campus is as easy as a short trip to Newtown Station.
The Flying Turtle has reached almost cult status among parts of the student body. One student summed it up well, “Flying Turtle is like Yochi without the price. It satisfies my desire for a sweet treat without emptying my wallet and opens me up to a world of possibilities.”
The drink itself, a mix of syrups and powders, is not the addictive factor. Every Flying Turtle order is a captivating game that draws on all five senses. The sounds of the beans grinding and the cute animations on the large touchscreen combine to create a beverage out of seemingly nowhere. The screen has a counter which displays the total amount of drinks sold globally, a number approaching 220 million.
Curiosity itself can be a motivator to keep coming back. As one USyd law student told Honi, the experience of watching the drink being made was worth the purchase. “I wonder how they fit all the different drinks into such a compact and streamlined machine,” she said.
Beyond that, Flying Turtle is always in the right places at the right time. For that law student, the machine found her when she was kicked out of her ABS booth the night before her Public International Law exam: “The Flying Turtle beverage machine found me when I needed it most.”
According to company data, the most popular drinks on campus at the time of writing are the Iced caramel latte, matcha latte, Thai milk tea, yuzu soda, iced mocha, and oreo volcano.
For the University, the machines represent an easy source of revenue. The spokesperson told Honi the company did not charge any upfront cost to get them on campus, and the University simply receives “a 10 percent commission on all sales.”
Suppose you ever feel guilty about how much extra money you are spending. In that case, the University has informed Honi that all the proceeds go to support USU’s FoodHub, which provides free food and other essential items to students struggling during the cost-of-living crisis. That’s more than I can say about other venues on campus.
Selling everything from chargers and ice cream to drugs and university merch, this new class of vending machines gives us a fascinating insight into what students value about the modern university. Like everything else, beverages have become a flashy and gamified experience designed to scrape in a bit more cash. These experiences seem to be a more important part of campus life for some students than classes themselves.
As I finish this article in ABS, chewing ice and sipping limeade, it’s hard to mount a strong argument against that culture. As long as the profits keep flowing to FoodHub, the deeper implications can wait for another article.
Right now, I am just excited for the next drink combination the Turtle bestows on me and for the Pizza machine to become fully operational.
