Melbourne’s late-night food scene is getting a European-style shake-up with the launch of a “sandwich automat”.
Cult sandwich favourite Nico’s Deli has teamed up with Heinz to unveil the Heinz x Nico’s Night Shift, the city’s first after-hours sandwich vending experience.
Located at Nico’s Sandwich Deli Fitzroy, the six-month pop-up features a self-serve dining concept popular in Europe.
Patrons access food and drinks directly from illuminated compartments built into the wall.
Nico’s Deli co-owner Leo Thompson said the inspiration for the vending machine came from a business partner who had recently seen the concept working in Amsterdam.
“He just saw the convenience and the accessibility and also the atmosphere that these machines created over there,” Mr Thompson told News Corp Australia.
“There’s nothing really quite like it over here. It was taking and building on the original concept of Heinz and going, ‘Well, what do people really want of an evening?’”
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Cult sandwich favourite Nico’s Deli has teamed up with Heinz to unveil the Heinz x Nico’s Night Shift. Picture: Supplied
The pop-up is the city’s first after-hours sandwich vending experience. Picture: Instagram/nicos.melbourne
Mr Thompson said the automat allowed the business to offer something more “playful” than their daytime service.
“There’s no seating, there’s no benches or tables,” he said.
“It’s really meant to be this really fast transaction and also it is a bit gimmicky. We can be self-aware enough to go, it’s meant to be silly and playful.”
The automat is stocked with fresh sandwiches daily featuring various Heinz sauces.
Heinz head of marketing Andrea Payne said the company is “ecstatic” to partner with Nico’s Deli to bring a brand-new offering to Melbourne.
“The synergy between Heinz and Nico’s Deli has made the partnership feel natural, bringing together our iconic sauces with Nico’s delicious sandwich recipes to create a bespoke menu,” Ms Payne said.
“The automat concept came to life because of true collaboration between Heinz and the Nico’s team, who were open to thinking outside the box on how we could bring late-night sandwiches to Fitzroy.”
The automat will be stocked with fresh sandwiches daily, featuring various Heinz sauces and mayos. Picture: Supplied
Heinz x Nico’s Night Shift is open Thursdays to Saturdays from 7pm-11pm at Nico’s Sandwich Deli Fitzroy. Picture: Instagram/nicos.melbourne
Since its launch on March 12, Mr Thompson said the public response to the vending machines had been “well received”.
He said there was potential for the Night Shift automat to become a permanent fixture across other parts of Melbourne.
“Melbourne is such a wonderful city for late night culture, food, gigs, music, art, even just pub culture,” he said.
“I think there is such an opportunity to see more of this kind of thing.”
While fast food vending machines have been popular in recent years, Mr Thompson said customer service would remain a priority for the brand’s main operations.
“People crave that connection and I think that there has to be a place for that in the future of food service regardless of the technology that comes in,” he said.
Heinz x Nico’s Night Shift is open Thursdays to Saturdays from 7pm to 11pm at Nico’s Sandwich Deli Fitzroy.
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