Penza, 21 May 2015. PenzaNews. A total of seven automatic milk vending machines have been installed on Penza streets.

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They can be found on Kommunisticheskaya street, 35; Austrina street, 137B, by “Domino” shopping center; Odesskaya street, 2; Kizhevatova street, 3; Antonova street, 9, by “Fregat” bus stop; Stroiteley prospekt, 40, by the “Spar” store; and Stroiteley prospekt, 37, to the side of “Kosmos-City” shopping center, and five of them are already operational.

The vending machines were installed by an agricultural cooperative enterprise “Sozidaniye” from Mordovia, that also makes once-a-day milk shipments to Penza.

The milk, cooled to +4°C and poured in sealed swappable stainless-steel 200-liter tanks, arrives at the milk vending machines two to three hours after milking. The leftovers of the day are sent away for processing or cow meal.

The vending machine is simple enough to be used even by the elderly, and is equipped with voice instructions to help make the purchase.

“We took after the Europeans in this project. Everything is very simple. We are farmers, we have a family business that involves my father in law, my wife and myself. Our analysis showed we cannot sell milk to processing factories at a price we would like to, and it takes us a lot of time to pay back the loans, so we decided to copy the experience of the Czech Republic. We ordered the vending machines, the equipment inside [them]. The pavilions outside the equipment were ordered here in Russia,” said the farmer Egor Balaev.

The milk sold in the vending machines goes to the consumer in as few steps as possible, he said.

“I can assure you, our milk is natural. If you have any doubts, you can visit us after calling in advance. We are always holding guided tours. Our farm is very modern and equipped with German technologies. We really play classical music while milking the cows, they have automatic scrubbers, warm water. It is a nice and modern complex. A man’s hand does not touch the milk in any way,” he explained.

According to the farmer, the complaints of consumers about reducing milk fat content have no actual basis behind them, as a cow, he explained, “is a living creature that cannot produce milk with the same fat content every time.”

“We had the idea two years ago. Our colleagues from St. Petersburg already have experience in working with milk vending machines. They set them up, began working with them, and we took interest. There are some Russian companies that produce milk vending machines, too, but we still decided to buy equipment in the Czech Republic,” Egor Balaev said.

A liter of milk will cost 32 rubles in summer, he added, but the price is likely to increase by winter.

“If the city residents are satisfied and ask for more, direct letters to the administration and the Agriculture Ministry, we will be ready to order and install more and more of them,” the businessman shared his prospections.

Nine vending machines of this type are already active in Saransk, he said.

This business does not bring great riches, Egor Balaev pointed out.

“It is not that kind of a business. We are not profiteering. Yes, we are neither charity workers nor sponsors, we work for profit, we are making business in a way. But this is a business only to ensure we survive. The milk vending machines help us pay the loans, which is why the price is like that. If we wanted to profit, we’d set the price at 50 or 60 rubles per liter,” he concluded.