A fresh cupcake is good. A fresh cupcake in as much time as it takes to push a button? Even better. But if you're worried a cupcake from a vending machine would taste like those sad, stale, unloved creations you spot on the counters of corporate office cafés around the CBD, think again.
A collection of vending machines filled with sweet treats from none other than Cake Creations by Kate (the beloved local bakery renowned for its drool-worthy, hand-crafted goodies) have popped up around Melbourne. Since launching in 2015, the business has become a cult hit on social media thanks to Kate's mini cupcakes, chunky melt-in-your-mouth cookies and A-grade macarons.
So how do the cupcake vending machines work? Each morning, a fresh new batch is placed into the machines, which feature state-of-the-art technology and are imported from Italy. You can choose from boxes of four, six and 12 mini cupcakes, in a variety of flavours such as Biscoff, cookies and cream, lemon and vanilla rainbow. Each box ranges from $13 to $30 (depending on how many cupcakes you want to fill up on), perfect for sharing with friends and family, or gifting on the go!
25-year-old baker Kate (who learned all her baking skills from her grandmother) says it's an easy way to keep up with soaring demand for cakes from her flagship store in Point Cook and other pop-up locations.
"We wanted to make things easier for our customers, as some travel over an hour just to visit our stores," she said. "We have hired more bakers and delivery drivers to ensure that people have access to fresh cupcakes on demand, seven days a week. The machines are essentially mini stores!"
Since outgrowing the OG Point Cook location, Kate and her team bake the cakes from scratch at her 300-square-metre warehouse in Werribee. You can spot the new vending machines at CS Square Caroline Springs and Craigieburn Central until the end of the year, with ten new vending machines promised to be on the way. Stay tuned for more locations as soon as they're announced.