PURPOSE: To eliminate waste of resources by providing a function for deciding whether a drink or food is to be poured into a cup after discharging the cup from a cup dispenser or it is to be poured in without discharging the cup.

CONSTITUTION: To a cup placing part 10 of a cup dispenser 1, laser beams from laser diodes 2a, 2b are run and photodetected by photodetectors 3a, 3b. When a customer does not place a cup on the cup placing part 10, the photodetectors 3a, 3b generate a photodetecting signal, and a turn-on signal of an OR circuit 4 is sent to an AND circuit 7. As a result, since a microprocessor 8 sends a turn-on signal to the AND circuit 7, an output signal of the AND circuit 7 is turned on, and the cup dispenser 1 discharges a built-in cup. In the case the cup is placed on the cup placing part 10, the photodetectors 3a, 3b are turned off, a cup dispenser controller 9 does not discharge the cup from the cup dispenser, and the microprocessor 8 sends an operating signal to a mechanism for pouring a drink.