Pictured: The cooking oil ATM installed in the customer's shop, October 2022.
Quick answer: We have been building H-TECH cooking oil ATMs (salad oil vending machines) in Kenya since 2018. Each one starts as a cut and folded cabinet in our Ruiru workshop, gets its oil tank, warmers, dispensing unit and password-protected controller, is branded for its owner ("as low as 10/=", "mafuta ya kupika") and is tested and calibrated to the owner's selling measures before it goes to the shop.
Key facts
Built in our workshop on the Eastern Bypass, Kamakis, Ruiru
66 dated photos (January 2019 to October 2022) and 36 videos
These are the same stages as our project planner (Plan → Design → Quote → Deliver → Operate). The photos are from real cooking oil ATM projects. This is an overview; detailed build methods are taught in our paid assembly and manufacturing training.
Plan: tell us what you will sell
What you sell or treat, how many litres a day, where, power and budget. You can do this yourself in the project planner.
Design: we size the machine
Tank, pumps or treatment stages, controls and layout, sized to your volume and site, with easy cleaning and service in mind.
Quote: everything in writing
Your quotation states the model, materials (including the steel grade), branding, delivery, installation and warranty terms.
Build: fabrication in Ruiru
Cabinets, tanks and frames are cut, bent and welded in our workshop; pumps, valves, pipework and the controller and payment system are fitted.
Fitting the stainless oil tank inside a cooking oil ATM, July 2022.
Brand: your name on the machine
Cabinets are finished and branded with your business name and colours when ordered.
An H-TECH paraffin ("mafuta taa") ATM, October 2022.
Test: before it leaves the workshop
Dispensing accuracy, temperatures for chilled machines, water quality readings for treatment systems, leaks, and every control and payment function.
Finished H-TECH controllers with keypads and displays, September 2022.
Deliver and install
We deliver and install across Kenya, and in Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda; other countries on request.
An H-TECH salad oil ATM installed, October 2022.
Operate: training and service
We train you and your staff to run, clean and price sales, and stay on call for service and spare parts.
Dated photos from our build archive
Every photo below is our own work, dated from the original camera file, from the workshop and from customers' sites.
An H-TECH salad oil ATM installed.A cooking oil ATM, wrapped and ready for delivery.An H-TECH paraffin ("mafuta taa") ATM.Finished H-TECH controllers with keypads and displays.Controller housings with displays and switches fitted.A double cooking oil ATM.A batch of controller housings being finished.Bench-testing an H-TECH controller with a dispensing pump.A cooking oil ATM in a shop.A cooking oil ATM installed in a customer's kiosk.The cooking oil ATM installed in a shop.The dispensing bay and controller of the orange cooking oil ATM.An orange-branded cooking oil ATM, finished.A liquid soap ATM and a cooking oil ATM outside our workshop.A tall branded cooking oil ATM finished in the workshop.Fitting the stainless oil tank inside a cooking oil ATM.The same machine branded "Budget Salad Oil ATM".The budget salad oil ATM in brushed stainless steel.Testing the controller on the budget salad oil ATM.Salad oil, liquid soap and cooking oil ATMs lined up in our showroom.A breadboard prototype of a new vending controller.Relays, switches and indicator parts laid out for a batch of H-TECH controllers.A salad oil ATM next to an H-TECH liquid soap ATM.Prototyping controller electronics in our workshop.Cooking oil ATMs ready for delivery.Two cooking oil ATMs ready in our showroom.A salad oil ATM in a customer's shop.Dispensing cooking oil into a measuring jug to check the measure.A yellow cooking oil ATM selling in a market shop.Handing over a cooking oil ATM to its new owner.A double cooking oil ATM in a shop.A new-design cooking oil ATM: "as low as 10 ksh".The installed machine, branded for the shop.A salad oil ATM installed in a customer's food shop.A compact cooking oil ATM loaded for delivery.Side view: "mafuta halisi ya kupika".A white H-TECH Salad oil ATM, finished.The controller circuit board, wired and soldered in our workshop.The compact cooking oil ATM, finished.A compact H-TECH Salad cooking oil ATM in the workshop.The combined milk and cooking oil machine with its two controllers fitted.The combined machine from behind, before the service panel goes on.The cooking oil side: "mafuta halisi ya kupika".Side branding of the combined machine: "quality pasteurized homogenized milk".Milk on one side, cooking oil on the other: four dispensing bays.A combined H-TECH machine that sells pasteurised milk and cooking oil from one cabinet.The salad oil ATM ready for delivery.The finished salad oil ATM in daylight.The side branding: "as low as 10 ksh".A tall H-TECH Salad oil ATM finished in our workshop.The same machine from the front: customers buy from as little as KSh 10.A salad oil ATM branded "Mafuta halisi ya kupika", ready for its owner.Testing the finished salad oil ATM before delivery.Controller fitted and powered up for workshop testing.The same cabinet branded as an H-TECH Salad oil ATM.The stainless steel cabinet before branding.The stainless cabinet with its dispensing bay and controller cut-out.A stainless steel cooking oil ATM body fresh from fabrication, protective film still on.An H-TECH milk ATM selling pasteurized milk next to a cooking oil ATM in a customer's shop.Two H-TECH salad oil ATMs finished and branded in our workshop.Our team setting up the salad oil ATM for the supermarket.Placement of the salad oil ATM next to the cooking aisle.The salad oil ATM selling between supermarket shelves.A cooking oil ATM branding panel: "as low as 10/=".An H-TECH salad oil ATM in a supermarket, with its stainless drip box.
Watch the build
Short clips from our workshop and installations (36 videos).
Cooking oil ATM cabinet walk-aroundA walk around a branded H-TECH cooking oil ATM cabinet, September 2021.Cooking oil ATM dispensing testEntering an amount on an H-TECH cooking oil ATM keypad and dispensing into a cup, September 2021.Stainless oil ATM body after fabricationThe stainless steel body of a cooking oil ATM straight after fabrication in our workshop, December 2021.Branded H-TECH Salad oil ATMThe same machine after branding as an H-TECH Salad oil ATM, December 2021.Salad oil ATM controller testPowering up and testing the salad oil ATM controller before delivery, December 2021.Tall salad oil ATM walk-aroundA walk around the tall H-TECH Salad oil ATM finished in our workshop, January 2022.Salad oil ATM in daylightThe finished salad oil ATM in daylight before delivery, January 2022.Combined milk and cooking oil ATMOne H-TECH cabinet that sells pasteurised milk and cooking oil, January 2022.Combined milk and oil ATM controllersThe two controllers fitted to the combined milk and cooking oil machine, January 2022.Dispensing test on the combined machineEntering an amount on the keypad and dispensing a test measure, January 2022.Fitting a compact cooking oil ATMFitting out a compact cooking oil ATM in our workshop, February 2022.H-TECH controller circuit boardThe circuit board of an H-TECH vending controller, made in our workshop, March 2022.White salad oil ATM walk-aroundA walk around a finished white H-TECH Salad oil ATM, March 2022.Testing controller electronicsBench-testing vending controller electronics in our workshop, March 2022.Oil ATM installed in a food shopA salad oil ATM installed in a customer's food shop, April 2022.Compact salad oil ATMA compact H-TECH Salad oil ATM, May 2022.Salad oil ATM walk-aroundThe compact salad oil ATM in daylight, May 2022.Oil ATM in a market shopA yellow cooking oil ATM in a market shop, May 2022.Dispensing into a measuring jugA salad oil ATM dispensing into a measuring jug to check the measure, May 2022.Cooking oil ATM in our showroomA yellow cooking oil ATM in our showroom, May 2022.H-TECH liquid soap ATMUsing the keypad on an H-TECH liquid soap ATM, June 2022.Liquid soap and cooking oil ATMsAn H-TECH liquid soap ATM next to a salad oil ATM, June 2022.Controller parts for a new batchRelays, switches and indicators laid out for a batch of H-TECH controllers, June 2022.Controller prototype boardA prototype controller board being tested in our workshop, June 2022.Vending ATMs in our showroomSalad oil, liquid soap and cooking oil ATMs lined up in our showroom, June 2022.Budget salad oil ATMA compact "budget" salad oil ATM in stainless steel, June 2022.Soap and cooking oil ATMsA liquid soap ATM and cooking oil ATMs outside our workshop, July 2022.Orange cooking oil ATMA walk around an orange-branded cooking oil ATM, July 2022.Controller on the breadboardDeveloping an H-TECH vending controller on a breadboard, July 2022.Cooking oil ATM in a shopA cooking oil ATM selling in a shop, September 2022.Oil and milk ATMs in one shopA cooking oil ATM beside a milk ATM in a shop, September 2022.Controller housingsController housings with displays and switches, September 2022.Paraffin (mafuta taa) ATMAn H-TECH paraffin ATM next to other vending machines, October 2022.Cooking oil ATM deliveryA cooking oil ATM on its way to the customer, October 2022.Cooking oil ATM installedThe cooking oil ATM installed in the customer's shop, October 2022.Salad oil ATM installedAn H-TECH salad oil ATM installed, October 2022.
More videos on our YouTube channel
How to start a salad oil ATM business in KenyaVideo · 1:13 · Herritech Ventures on YouTubeHow to start a cooking oil vending business in KenyaVideo · 0:58 · Herritech Ventures on YouTube
We cut, fold and weld the cabinet, fit the oil tank, warmers, dispensing unit and controller, brand the cabinet, then test and calibrate it before delivery. The photos and videos above show these stages on real machines. Detailed build methods are taught in our paid assembly training.
Who makes cooking oil ATMs in Kenya?
Herritech Ventures builds H-TECH cooking oil ATMs in its workshop on the Eastern Bypass, Kamakis, Ruiru, and has done since 2018.
What is the price of a cooking oil ATM in Kenya?
H-TECH cooking oil ATMs cost KSh 35,000 to KSh 105,000 at current listed prices, from table-top units to 100-litre stainless machines.
Stainless steel, mild steel or MDF: which cooking oil ATM cabinet is best?
Stainless steel lasts longest and is easiest to clean; mild steel and MDF cost less. All three use the same dispensing system. The choice is mostly budget and where the machine will stand.
Who makes the controller inside an H-TECH machine?
We assemble, wire and test our keypad controllers and circuit boards in our own workshop; the photos and videos from March to June 2022 show this work.
Do you build ATMs for other liquids, like liquid soap, paraffin or juice?
Yes. Besides cooking oil we have built liquid soap ATMs, a paraffin ("mafuta taa") ATM and a fruit juice ATM; they are pictured on this page and on the build journey hub.
Can one machine sell both cooking oil and milk?
Yes. In January 2022 we built a combined H-TECH cabinet with cooking oil on one side and pasteurised milk on the other (pictured).
Why does a cooking oil ATM have a warmer?
Oil thickens in the cold; the warmer keeps it liquid so it flows and does not block the system.
Can customers buy cooking oil for KSh 10?
Yes. The machine dispenses the amount paid for, so you can sell small amounts; many owners brand the machine "as low as 10/=". You set the price.
How long does it take to build a cooking oil ATM?
It depends on the size, cabinet and branding and on the orders already in the workshop. We confirm the delivery date on your quotation.
