Upon success of cupcake ATM, bring pizza ATM to campus

Earlier this month, Xavier University became the only place in the United States that students can order pizza from a vending machine 24 hours a day. However, that may change soon. Demand for such a unique dining option has been on the rise: Businesses and schools in 20 U.S. states and Canada have inquired about bringing a pizza ATM to their property, and it seems likely that they will soon be spreading across the continent. As the availability of such a novel way to get dinner increases, students at USC should have access to such a unique treat.

Most pizza places around USC are far from campus and can be inconvenient to reach. Though California Pizza Kitchen has an establishment on campus, USC needs more options for students who want to avoid the long lines common at Ronald Tutor Campus Center during lunchtime. Fitting a pizza run into a three-class day can be very tricky and, by the end, too tiring to deserve the investment. Hungry students who are crunched for time are forced to be satisfied with dry, processed vending machine food that’s not nearly as filling or satisfying as a hot slice of pizza. As a result, students often end up spending more money on unsatisfying snacks that only increase their intake of empty calories. The solution to this problem comes all the way from Europe in the form of the pizza vending machine, invented by a French company called Paline.

Paline is collaborating with distribution networks to make the dream of easily accessible and delicious meals a reality. The process is fairly simple: Cooks make the pizza in the college kitchen and store it in the refrigerated portion of the ATM. The students then select the toppings they desire on the touch screen and order the pizza, which is then heated in an oven for only three minutes before being dispensed, hot and fresh, into the machine slot. The minimal amount of time required makes it much more preferable to pizza parlors, where standing in line and waiting for the pizza can take up to 30 minutes.

Besides being inconvenient, hot food can often be expensive, but the low price of Paline’s vending machine pizza won’t break the bank. At $9 to $10, each pizza is competitively priced with other pizzas available to students, and the treat would be an ideal dining option for students all over campus. Though our campus center is a fairly convenient eating location, pizza ATMs would remove the need for walking there and waiting for order preparation, all while worrying about potentially being late to class. The pizza ATM would respond to an ever-growing demand for quick, tasty food — look no further than the success of the new cupcake ATM over the past semester.

The pizza ATM is a savory, much-needed twist on a familiar concept. It is a simple yet ingenious solution to the perennial student question: What will I eat next?