This week, Nestlé frozen pizza brand DiGiorno debuted its first-ever pizza vending machine, the DiGiorno To Go.
When I looked at the machine and watched the video of the DiGiorno to Go in action, I thought the machine looked familiar. That’s when it struck me: This DiGiorno To Go looks like a re-skinned Basil Street pizza machine. Take a look for yourself:
See what I mean?
My guess is this IS the same system. Readers of The Spoon may remember that Basil Street put its assets up for sale last year. While it’s never been disclosed who bought the company’s technology and associated IP, we now know whoever it has – seemingly – licensed or sold it to DiGiorno. For all we know, Nestle/DiGiorno may have purchased the assets.
In describing the project in the video below, Nestlé employee Bill Marks says that DiGiorno “did manage to partner with a hot pizza vendor to cocreate a hot pizza vending machine.” Vague, sure, but Marks’s job in the marketing video is not to go into the corporate machinations or details that brought Basil Steet’s technology to DiGiorno.
Either way, the pairing of Basil Street with a big frozen pizza brand like DiGiorno makes sense. I can see these branded machines popping up in cafeterias, public spaces like airports, or even grocery stores.
According to DiGiorno, pizzas from DiGiorno To Go will cost $9 and be ready in about three minutes. And yes, that is how long it took for a Basil Street machine to prepare a pie.
We’ve reached out to DiGiorno to see if we confirm whether this is, in fact, the Basil Street machine and report back anything we hear. In the meantime, you can watch the Basil Street DiGiorno pizza vending machine in action below.