For some in Silicon Valley, the thought is that buying bread can be as convenient as candy bars or chips.
That is a reality due to Le Bread Xpress, which has stocked vending machines in several locations in San Francisco. These futuristic machines basically contain miniature bakeries inside. A small oven heats up baguettes on-demand for on-the-go customers.
Each machine is restocked with up to 120 baguettes each morning by an off-site bakery that partially pre-bakes them in order to make ordering more convenient.
A customer presses a button like on a normal vending machine, and the Le Bread Xpress vending machine passes the pre-baked bread through the high-temperature oven inside to finish it off before depositing into a chute for pickup. Eight baguettes can be cooked at once, with each one costing $4.25.
"In a mall next to transportation, people come back from work, get their fresh baguette and get home," says Anthony Fountaine, of Le Bread Xpress.
While convenient, it’s undeniable that these baguettes don’t replicate the fresh cooked taste that comes from a local bakery. In our opinion, while this technology is fascinating, we’ll prefer to get our baked goods the old-fashioned way.