Colorado-based Tres Picosos has partnered with Evolvending to place its Tres Locos Mexican food brand inside automated hot-food kiosks at major U.S. airports — a move that adds a branded foodservice tenant to a growing network of self-service dining machines replacing or supplementing traditional concession stands.
The initial deployment is live at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) Terminal 1, Concourse G, with the Tres Locos menu also accessible at existing EvolveCAFÉ units at Boston Logan (BOS), Charleston International (CHS), and Southwest Florida International (RSW). Tres Picosos says additional airport locations are planned in the coming months.
The Menu and Platform
The Tres Locos kiosk lineup centers on the brand's highest-velocity SKUs: Bacon Breakfast, Chicken Fajita, Picadillo Beef, and Pork Carnitas burritos, plus street-style tacos — all served hot and available around the clock. Evolvending's platform combines smart hardware, touchscreen interfaces, and data-driven inventory management to keep fresh and hot food available without traditional labor coverage, a model increasingly attractive to airport concessionaires facing staffing constraints on overnight and early-morning shifts.
"The Evolvending concept fills an important need when convenience is essential, and enjoyment is valued," said Jane Hartgrove, founder and principal at Tres Picosos. "Now, customers can get delicious Mexican food exactly how and when they want it — hot and ready — even when the rest of the world is closed."
Automated Foodservice Context
The partnership lands as hot-food vending is undergoing a commercial renaissance. According to Vending Times, the hot food vending machine industry in the U.S. and Canada is projected to reach $9.6 billion by 2036, up from $5.5 billion in early 2026. That trajectory is pulling branded foodservice operators — who historically limited their automated plays to ambient snacks or cold grab-and-go — into purpose-built heated kiosk hardware capable of delivering QSR-quality meals.
For equipment specifiers and airport facility planners, the Evolvending model represents a distinct foodservice automation category: self-contained units that handle heating, interface, payment, and inventory tracking without a staffed counter. The back-of-house implication is significant — each machine must reliably maintain food safety temperatures across a broad daypart spread, from pre-dawn breakfast rushes to late-night arrivals, making thermal management and monitoring capabilities central to the spec decision.
Tres Picosos brings WBENC-certified woman-owned credentials to the partnership and distributes nationally through Dot Foods, Inc. and KINEXO — a supply chain infrastructure that supports rapid scaling across new kiosk sites. Valentina Ellison, CEO of Evolvending, noted the brand fit: "Tres Locos is a fantastic brand that delivers authentic, high-quality Mexican cuisine. We're excited to add one of America's favorite food categories to our platform while giving our airport partners even greater flexibility to meet evolving traveler preferences."
For foodservice automation and cold-chain storage observers, the Tres Picosos–Evolvending deal is a useful data point: branded manufacturers with established distribution networks are increasingly treating automated kiosk channels as a fourth leg alongside QSR, convenience, and grocery — and designing their back-of-house production and packaging specs accordingly.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
