ALL JUICED UP

Vending machines dispensing fruit juices and smoothies are taking over Singapore, providing a quick vitamin boost for customers

- Cherie Lok

Three things are guaranteed in life: death, taxes and an iJooz machine within a 1km radius of wherever you are in Singapore.

Or at least that is what it sometimes feels like. The company, founded in 2016 by former engineer Bruce Zhang, has well and truly embedded itself into the everyday landscape, thanks to the installation of some 1,500 vending machines islandwide.

These orange-filled contraptions, which squeeze out fresh juice in minutes, are now so ubiquitous that some buildings, such as Yishun Integrated Transport Hub, have three on their premises. In other parts of Singapore, like Rangoon Road, they can be found on both sides of the street.

"You may feel like you see iJooz everywhere, but sometimes when you want a cup, you realise that there isn't one close enough to walk to. So, we need more machines," says Mr Zhang, 42.

The goal of iJooz's chief executive is to eventually have 5,000 machines in Singapore, with a handful possibly planted at HDB void decks - an untapped area of potential for the company.

Most of iJooz's orange juice dispensers are located at train stations, bus interchanges and malls. It is pretty much the only vending machine selling this product left in Singapore, having eclipsed competitors such as Q Orange, which has all but exited the local market.

These days, competition comes in the form of other automated juicers instead.

For instance, the boxy green contraption that juices sugarcanes on demand. These Fresh & Pure vending machines can now be found near iJooz's distinctive orange and white dispensers at some malls.

Elsewhere, machines selling smoothies blended on the spot have cropped up in Suntec City, Bugis+ and Mount Elizabeth Hospital. Stocked with tubes of frozen fruit, they churn out creamy combinations such as strawberry-banana and papaya-mango milkshakes that busy office workers can grab on the go.