New high tech, hands-off ice manufacturing and vending machine opens in Huntingburg

An ATM for ice is opening in Huntingburg this weekend and plans are in the works for two more in the county by year’s end.

Even though it hasn’t sold a cube of ice yet, the machine was creating a stir in the Huntingburg Post Office on Monday. “Did you see the huge ice machine on the south side of town,” one patron marveled.

Seemingly appearing overnight on an empty lot at the intersection of Main Street and South Park Drive next to the laundromat on the south side of town,  the new business is new venture by 43-year-old Huntingburg resident Brad Peter. He is operating under the name 3M Ice LLC; the 3M stands for his three daughters Morgan, Mallory, and Makenna.

Through Hoosier IceMan, LLC, the regional supplier, Brad can place an Ice House anywhere one doesn’t t already exist. This is the first of three such ice houses he would like to establish in Dubois County. “I am looking for property to place one or two in Jasper,” he explained. “If anyone is interested in having one on their site or wants to lease or sell land tell them to get in touch with me.”

He first saw an Ice House vending machine at Panama City Beach, FL, about four years ago. “I was interested then but didn’t start working on this until about a year ago when I began the process of acquiring a machine for this area,” he explained.

Brad works for Toyota Motor Manufacturing in Princeton and is an heavy equipment mechanic. While he was researching the idea he met a Toyota employee in Kentucky that owns nine Ice Houses. Through his contact there and his own mechanical background, Peter decided he could set up a machine and operate it himself. He plans on using the income to fund his retirement and to pay for college for his three daughters. “This isn’t a business I’ll get rich with,” he said.

He expects he will catch the traffic heading out of town for camping and sports activities as well as traffic heading north from the interstate.

The ice house was created by an engineering firm in Florida. It is able to produce three tons of ice over an eight hour time frame and vends 16 pound bags of ice or 20 pounds into coolers or other containers supplied by customers for $2. “Twenty pounds of ice is a over a five-gallon bucket,” Brad said, “so a customer might need multiple containers.”

The high tech house texts Brad when a customer has an issue or the door to the dispensing area is opened. “If a customer has a problem with a bag that is dispensed I can tell the house to dispense another bag from my phone,” he explained.

The company prides itself on the process it uses to create a softer ice that is easier to chew. The manufacturing process occurs in a sealed stainless steel area in the rear of the house. When customers place an order it is automatically fed into a bagging system.

The packaged ice industry accounts for $4 billion in sales annually and currently there are over 2500 Ice House vending machines operating in the United States.

“I want three, one for each of my daughters.”