The Koerner Office - Business Ideas and Deep Dives with Chris Koerner This Business Makes Vending Machines Look Dumb⏐Ep. #270
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Jan 30, 2026 
Forest Coughtry, an entrepreneur who built CofTree Wholesale — a high-margin jerky and snack route business — explains how he scaled to $50K+ months with no vending machines. He discusses buying and fixing routes, selecting long-dated products, relationship-based selling, unit economics, startup costs, route logistics, and why direct distribution outcompetes vending machines.
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High Growth With Minimal Startup Capital
- Forest scaled a wholesale snack distribution business to $50–60K/month with minimal capital and no employees.
- Fast pay terms from customers and net terms from suppliers let you start with almost no money.
Buying A Handshake Bakery Route
- Forest bought a failing pastry distribution business for $15,000 and grew it aggressively.
- He scaled it to roughly $800K gross before selling routes for $85K and $100K each.
Hunt Products, Not Just Stores
- Do call manufacturers and local distributors to discover products with distribution gaps in your market.
- Use Google and calls to find jerky, candy, or novelty brands not already in independent stores.