The owner of Eggspress Vending, Paddy Muckian, has identified a surge in demand for his innovative vending machine, after a video of the machine went viral on TikTok, racking up 100,000s of hits.

Paddy was originally inspired to design a vending machine on his poultry farm to provide 24-hour sales access when he noticed a gap in the market for such a means of sale.

"I knew we were missing sales, there were people calling into the yards and we weren't always at home, so that's why I started it," the Dundalk man said.

What started as a small scale enterprise, has now transformed into a booming family business, which sells the patented egg vending machine all across Ireland, the UK and Europe.

"Originally, I went to Enterprise Ireland and I got a grant for a manual one. I couldn't keep it full, so then I developed it a bit further and I made an electronic one," Muckian said.

"My brother Eugene's an engineer so he helped design it, all my sons help me - the whole family's involved in the business now," Muckian added.

The egg vending machine can take up to two months to build on-site in Dundalk and can be laminated and framed to offer protection from the elements.

Sales increased further after the addition of a card processing system two years ago, which now accounts for 80% of all sales.

"They're standard sized machines with 28 drawers. You can fit a 30-egg tray inside, some can fit dozens and some can fit 20, but they all run in sequence from one to 28.

"Customers just have to tap their cards and the door pops opens and when it reaches door 24, it will send the text to my mobile to come and fill it up," the entrepreneur said.

The product can also be adapted for the sale of fresh fruit and vegetables, with potatoes and strawberries being the popular produce being sold after eggs.

"You can even get a 10k bag of potatoes into it," Muckian added.

He has further plans in store to expand Eggspress' potential and diversify the range of products that can be sold from it.

"At the minute, we're developing a chilled machine to sell milk from it, we've been working on it for the past three months and we should have one ready in about two months time".

When asked how many machines have sold since the business began, Muckian said:

"I've lost count. Some people would buy 10 machines - there's an egg man in Romania who bought 10, I have 12 machines across Dundalk alone which I fill myself."

Muckian now set his sight on the North American market and is developing a refrigerated model to meet the uptake in demands and satisfy the differences in regulatory standards.

He said: "There was a lot of interest from America from the TikTok video that went viral."

Muckian, who is "more than happy with business", has accredited the success of the business to the inherent benefits of the vending machine, citing savings in overhead costs, which has facilitated lower prices for consumers.

"The product is fresher as you're selling it direct to the customer, who also know that the product is locaI.

"In the beginning they come for the novelty and then they realise that they're getting good value and they come back for more," he added.

More information on Eggspress Vending can be found on their website and via their facebook page https://www.facebook.com/paddy.muckian