Exchange Opens One-of-a-Kind Pizza Vending Machine at Nellis Air Force Base

From left: Exchange Services Business Manager Brett Gregory, Basil Street Director of Food Production Davide Garbin and Lt. Col Steven Fox, the first customer, stand near the Automated Pizza Kitchen.

With the dining facility closed at the Nellis Air Force Base hospital, Airmen have another option for a hot meal thanks to the Exchange—with a vending machine that is the first of its kind at the Exchange.

The Exchange has partnered with pizza vending machine company Basil Street to open the first Automated Pizza Kitchen at the Mike O’Callaghan Military Medical Center, which has a dining facility that is closed for about 18 months for renovations.

“The hospital still serves meals to patients, but for employees and visitors, or patients who just want to grab a snack, there are few places onsite for hot food,” said General Manager Matthew Beatty. “The pizza machine is an innovative partnership that will fill a need and give Airmen more options for meals on the installation.”

The machine, which stores frozen pizzas and cooks and dispenses them, went live Aug. 15 and earned $495 in sales over the first two days after serving 55 pizzas. Lunch sales on Aug. 17 totaled $200, said Brett Gregory, Services Business manager the Nellis Exchange.

Discussions are ongoing about putting machines at other Exchange locations.

Diners can choose cheese, pepperoni and supreme pizza. The pizzas, which are heated to 300 degrees, are dispensed in about three minutes. To comply with COVID-19 safety procedures, each one is served with an individually wrapped, single-use pizza cutter.

“It’s always exciting to be first, but it’s more exciting to be able to offer more options for our Airmen and their families,” Beatty said.