Boost inc: Featured in the milestone 100th issue of F&CM
Responsabiliser les gestionnaires grâce à une technologie conçue pour eux
Boost inc is honoured to be featured in the milestone 100th issue of F&CM (Food Service & Commerce Magazine) in France. Our CEO, Pascal Uffer, and our Business Development Manager for France, Louis-Matar Guèye, sat down with journalist Jean Yves Frantz to discuss our role in driving the new era of unattended retail.
You can read the full magazine in French here. See the English version of the feature article below.
Founded by a former Selecta executive and firmly rooted in operational excellence in Switzerland, Boost inc has emerged as one of the most promising players in the fast-growing “augmented vending” market. We sat down with Pascal Uffer (CEO, Boost inc) and Louis-Matar Guèye (Business Development lead in France and Wallonia).
Boost inc has emerged as a transformative force in the vending world… What is your vision of the market, which you seem to understand so well?
Pascal Uffer: Most people still view vending machines through an outdated lens: a few spiral-fed machines lining up in a corridor, dispensing snacks and basic coffee. We want to go much further. At Boost inc, the focus is above all on the customer journey.
Our goal is to create a cohesive whole that is understood by the people who manage their equipment every day. Our ambition is to enable managers to treat their valuable equipment like a real, connected store. We’ve developed expertise that covers all aspects of this experience: from automatic distribution, to hardware, to the data that enables real-time decisions.
We are not just another tech company that randomly fell into vending. We’re vending professionals who built the technology we wish we had. Our ambition is to create a true operating system for vending, a platform that allows operators to run their fleets like an e-commerce business.
The main challenge is to divest the high variable costs associated with automatic distribution. We address this by offering a platform that allows for a fully commercial e-commerce site, covering the entire distance from product discovery to payment, while meeting the needs of the modern consumer.
French operators are now turning to smart fridges…How does Boost inc support this shift?
Louis-Matar Guèye: The shift is real. Operators tell us they want technology to support them. They want to refocus on their core business: managing sales, not just technical equipment. They want the location to be productive again and want to offer new customer experiences that generate new revenue.
With Boost inc, prevention is not only about managing malfunctions, but also about monitoring the performance of the equipment that provides profitability to the model. We come from the field, which is why we’ve been successful. Boostbar, our Swiss operation, now manages over 200 clients and 1,000 active points of sale.
Our success stems from a logistics model adapted to vending operations. Our solutions, such as our smart fridges, handle what operators already sell (snacks, drinks, and sandwiches), with enough capacity to optimize every restocking run. This focus on logistics, combined with our software, allows for better sales analysis and product lifecycle management.
You’ve launched new-generation vending machines with integrated touchscreens. What’s the goal?
Pascal Uffer: Our systems are ready to evolve in all directions, but the most solid foundation is controlling the security of the equipment. In environments like security-restricted sites, having remote maintenance and automatic installation allows for a significant reduction in the two main risks: equipment theft and malfunction.
In terms of user experience, our solutions bring a modern, fast, and dynamic interface, simple payment methods, and non-intrusive upselling features. It transforms a dull transaction into an interactive experience.
We are committed to helping operators digitize their fleets intelligently, starting from their existing equipment and constraints. We always tailor the solution to the operator’s needs and operations.
How do you support operators on a daily basis?
Pascal Uffer: We never want to create a “gas factory.” Our goal is to offer a solution that meets the needs of managers, but that is simple to use and manageable.
The central logic, the back-office, is our digital Point-of-Sale solution, Vendlive. We track simple things: everything sold, what is available, and what is on the screen. We provide clear technical documentation and support from people who understand your business.
We know the job perfectly and we want to be close to the managers because they are the ones who make the difference. The maintenance of the machines is also critical. We allow the manager to track malfunctions, see the condition of the sensor, and share this data with their service provider, which is an important key to fully supporting them.
At Boost inc, we believe the future of unattended retail belongs to the operators who control their own data and destiny. We are not just a tech company that stumbled into vending; we are operators who built the tool we always dreamed of having. It’s time to move beyond outdated systems and embrace a technology designed to make you more profitable and more agile. Ready to unlock the full e-commerce potential of your fleet?
To learn more about implementing our solutions in France and Wallonia, please reach out to our France Business Development Manager, Louis-Matar Guèye. For those across Europe, reach out to hello@boostinc.com
