Argosy Food Service--a foodservice equipment manufacturer in the frozen dessert and beverage industry--has announced its expansion into the vending market through its latest machine, Argosy Ice. The brand will target the retail and foodservice space and feature the Dual Vend 500--a patented vending machine uniquely designed to dispense fresh, purified ice and water, as the first product in the new line.

Today, the majority of retail locations that sell ice, purchase it through an ice distributor. This ice is dispensed out of a machine, bagged, loaded onto a truck and then delivered to the retailer to be stored in an ice chest where customers can purchase it. The DV500 water and ice vending machine eliminates the possibility of customers purchasing bags of ice that have been sitting in a chest for extended times. The machine also reduces the number of people that handle the ice to zero. This improves the quality of the ice and prevents it from degrading due to shifting temperatures in the delivery truck and the storage unit.