Patent ID: 7389919

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving, via a point-of-sale terminal that is not a vending machine, an indication of a set of food products which a customer desires to purchase; offering, via a point-of-sale terminal, at least one food product to the customer; receiving, via the point-of-sale terminal, an acceptance of the offer; receiving payment for the product; generating data which defines at least one food product; generating a voucher identifier; associating the generated data with the voucher identifier; printing on a paper substrate indicia that represents at least one of the generated data and the voucher identifier; providing the paper substrate to the customer; receiving, from the customer, the paper substrate via a vending machine that is not the point-of-sale terminal, but that is located proximate to the point-of-sale terminal; in which the step of receiving the paper substrate is performed after the step of receiving the acceptance of the offer; determining, from the paper substrate, the data which defines the at least one food product; receiving, by the vending machine and from the customer, a selection of a food product; comparing the selected food product with the at least one food product defined by the data; and dispensing, via the vending machine, the unit of the selected food product.