Montreal is dropping sugary soda from vending machines. Could salad take its place?

Now that Montreal has committed to phasing out sugary drinks in city buildings like arenas and pools, some companies that rely on vending machine sales are looking ahead to an uncertain future.

Mayor Valérie Plante announced this month that she intends to back a plan to drop soft drinks as contracts are renegotiated with vendors.

• Montreal wants to phase out sugary drinks in city buildings

That's worrisome news for Bastien Poulain, owner and creator of 1642 Soda, a craft soft drink company that makes maple-sweetened soda in Montreal.

Poulain told CBC Montreal's Daybreak that the city is his biggest client, and he'd hate to see his contracts with places like the cafeteria at the Botanical Gardens go up in smoke.

"I think that Ms. Plante wants to impose that there's a new mayor in town," he said. "We were surprised because there was no plan. We don't know if naturally sweetened soda will be excluded from that motion."

​Poulain has made a concerted effort to keep his product ahead of his high-fructose-sweetened competition.

"We are trying our best to reduce the sugar in our soda," he said.

He's also reached out to the city, hoping to set up a meeting and find a way for his independent local venture to avoid the contract chopping block.

Salad on the go

On the other hand, another Montreal company is hoping to provide an alternative to the typical vending machine fare in the form of salads, protein bowls and organic green teas.

Portions is the brainchild of Montreal-based father and son Aaron and Ryan Hutman.

Ryan, a personal trainer, also prepares meals for his clients, and eventually realized he could do that on a larger scale.

The two make salads and snacks fresh daily to stock the three vending machines, called frigos, located around the city: one in Saint-Laurent where they live, another in the McGill campus library and one at the central train station.

"People are busy, they don't have time to eat healthy nowadays," Ryan told Daybreak. "We thought the train station would be a great place to offer people something healthy on the go."

He said the food, made with lean proteins, grain and produce, stays fresh in the refrigerated machine inside air-tight containers.

"Our concept is really about making healthy food fun and tasty," said Ryan.

Family business

Aaron, the father, says that the company also tries to source all its food locally.

"Everything in the jars comes from Quebec, even the lettuce."

Anything that isn't sold within a few days gets donated to local food banks.

Aaron isn't sure how Portions will be able to capitalize on the vacancy left by the soft drink exodus, but he said he approves of the move, commending Plante for a step in the right direction.

He said he's reached out to the city to see if a potential partnership could be arranged.