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Product Consulting for Business Idea of Vending Machines for IoT-Enabled Hydroponic Food Startup – Clayton Farms
Product Consulting for Business Idea of Vending Machines for IoT-Enabled Hydroponic Food Startup – Clayton Farms
Role: Product Strategy Lead
Team Size: 5
Duration: 10 weeks
Challenge: Clayton Farms, an indoor hydroponic food startup, needed a scalable, profitable go-to-market strategy for fresh, healthy meals targeting health-conscious consumers (students, professionals, families).
Our approach was customer-centric and systematic, progressing through research, ideation, and strategic planning:
Customer & Market Research
• Gathered insights from 110+ customers via heatmaps
• Mapped pain points (e.g. desire for grab-and-go healthy meals)
• Analyzed competitors (Just Salad, Chopt, Farmer’s Fridge)
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Ideation & Concept Scoring
• Brainstormed 4 growth concepts:
24/7 automated meal delivery
Personalized salad meal plans (subscription)
AI-nurtured home-kitchen salad kits
Customizable salad vending machines
• Evaluated each on customer appeal, technical feasibility, novelty, and ROI
• Salad vending machine came #1 in score & customer interest
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Ecosystem & Business Model Analysis
• Mapped stakeholders (suppliers, tech partners, regulators, logistics)
• Updated Business Model Canvas: activities, resources, costs, revenues
• Validated that vending leverages core strengths and lowers OPEX
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Three-Horizon Strategy Planning
(McKinsey's Three Horizons of Growth)
• Horizon 1 (0–12 mo): Optimize indoor farm + drive-thru operations (70%) - immediate revenue making activity will sit here!
• Horizon 2 (12–24 mo): Launch subscriptions & mobile app (20%) -an extension of the current proven business model
• Horizon 3 (24+ mo): Deploy smart salad vending machines (10%) - can be unsubstantiated and potentially unprofitable for a significant period of time - research projects, pilot programs, or completely new revenue streams that require initial investment
Value Proposition
For: Individuals seeking healthy, convenient meal options
Who: are looking for quick and nutritious food choices with minimal human interaction
We provide: A vending machine stocked with fresh, locally sourced ingredients
That: allows customers to customize their own salads with their favorite greens, topping, proteins and dressings.
Unlike: traditional vending machines and fast food options
Who: often offer limited and unhealthy food choices
Our company: offers a convenient, healthy alternative with a wide range of customization options
That: promotes health and wellness on the go
Roadmap Snapshot: We created a five-phase roadmap to implement the growth strategy in manageable steps:
My role
Led team of 5 as product strategy owner
Designed & ran 110+ VoC interviews and heatmaps
Benchmarked industry leaders (Farmer’s Fridge, Just Salad)
Created concept scoring models and business model canvas
Presented roadmap and got buy-in from founders
Solution: Customizable Salad Vending Machine
Solution: Customizable Salad Vending Machine
▪Stands out in novelty from Voc.
▪Placed in Horizon 3 with inherent risks and technology complexities.
▪Disruptive business concept with anticipated growth and market differentiation.
Why it won:
Top rank by concept scoring.
Placed in Horizon 3 with inherent risks and technology complexities.
Disruptive business concept with anticipated growth and market differentiation:
- 30% cost reduction vs delivery/retail
- Saves 1,800+ labor hours/year/machine
How it works:
Touchscreen kiosk, AI-powered salad recommendations, fresh & local ingredients, 24/7
We also took confidence from industry benchmarks. Similar concepts have already proven successful like Farmer’s Fridge that served 11 million+ meals to date, demonstrating consumer demand for automated healthy food and in Singapore, the Shake Salad vending service reportedly generates $2 million+ annual revenue.
These precedents validate our solution’s viability
Learning Journey with Test Cards
We assessed Clayton Farm's Business Ecosystem Actors:
Risk Assessment and Mitigation
Top 3
Web Page Prototype made, available on THIS LINK.
MVP: Collect your Ingredients and Mix them in the bowl!
For CF’s MVP for the “Make your own salad vending machine” idea, We envision it could be a working vending machine that could sell pre-packed salad ingredients. There are three steps for ordering a salad, base salad, topping options, and dressing. The customer then collects all the ingredients, mix and shakes them in a salad container.
MAP: Minimum Awesome Product - Awesome Salad Vending Machine
A MAP focuses on ensuring that the product, even in its simplest form, delivers an exceptional user experience.
For CF’s MAP for the “Make your own salad vending machine” idea, it could be a fully functional vending machine with AI technology integration.
CF can also display a video on the vending machine to show the growth of their greens in their vertical farms and how it is packed and shipped to the vending machine to ensure freshness.
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