I'll have some toast points to go

Imagine you are at the mall and instead of some Sun Chips and a Snapple you come across a vending machine full of caviar. $50,000 worth of caviar in increments of $5 to $500. It’s not science fiction, or for that matter, marketing fiction. It’s available now, in fancy mall settings in California.

According to NBCnews.com , the vending machines were developed by Kelly Stern, a gourmet food supplier located in in the same state. It's her vested interest to get the masses interested in tonier foods -- including caviar.

Since vending machines are usually in high-trafficked areas for fast, on the go, impulse purchases, the machines are getting notoriety – not for their convenience, but their uniqueness. More importantly, if older consumers are the only ones familiar with this kind of delicacy, reaching out to teens in a delivery system they can relate to is what this supplier hopes the buzz of these machines can do.

Distribution is one of the four components that helps make the magic of marketing. (The others are product, price and promotion.) As a result, it’s not just the product that speaks to the audience – it’s the marketing technology that gets the product to new markets in new ways. 

Distribution can often establish or increase sales growth for a product whether it’s via toll-free phone numbers to order by direct marketing, access via the internet or through unexpected retail channels. (That’s how Avon attempted greater expansion vs. their notorious Avon Ladies sales force.)  

So when it comes to luxury items in less-than-luxurious environs, it’s only a matter of time for vending machines like these to help young connoisseurs to recognize the difference between Beluga and Sterlet, Ossetra, and Sevruga.