Adding machines
THE vending market is undergoing unprecedented growth, with technology playing a big role in both customer operation and vending management.
Dual-product machines are coming in, dispensing not just the beverage but a snack to go with it, actioned by a single payment. Smartcard payment systems are getting smarter, not only delivering the product to the customer but downloading management data such as drinks sold, temperature monitoring, and peaks and troughs for particular sales.
In the most advanced payment system yet, it is even possible to buy drinks using a mobile phone and have the payment added to the phone bill.
Organic automatic
ORGANIC and fair trade teas and coffees are set to grow substantially in the vending sector in the next two years, according to David Medhurst, managing director of Redwood Catering, supplier of vending ingredients.
"It's becoming an issue not so much in the profit sector, but in the cost sector," says Medhurst. "You would expect it to be the other way around, but local authorities are starting to insist on fair trade and organic. The cost sector seems to be more sympathetic towards fair trade products on ethical grounds. In contrast the profit sector, with stricter financial constraints often does not have the freedom to make purchases on such an emotive basis."
He also predicts that biodegradable packaging will be the next step.
Contact: Redwood Catering 01277 202929
Ship's rations
THE Royal Navy has turned to vending as a means of providing a 24-hour food and beverage service to the 1,200 sailors on board the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible.
Operated by Naafi (the Navy, Army and Air Force Institute) Canteen Services, which runs all facilities on board Royal Navy ships, the installation is part of a £150,000 refit to the ship's catering and is a trial which, if successful, will be rolled out on other vessels. It complements the ship's traditional catering operation, which serves main meals in three dining halls.
There are two vending centres on Invincible, both offering hot and cold drinks and snacks. A cashless payment system uses smartcards, which are charged up through a separate validator and, unusually for a vending machine, there is the option of placing a personal mug under the hot drink dispense tap instead of using a plastic cup. Fresh food is dispensed through a Shoppertron unit.
The installation was provided by Crane National Vendors, using machines from its new Millennia range.
Contact: Crane National Vendors 01249 444807
Vend without end
AFTER being the subject of a management buyoutlast July, Granada Vending Services, renamed24seven Vending to represent its trading hours,expects to add £13m to its turnover by the end ofnext year.
The company is bullish about future growth partly because, since it was unshackled from Granada, it has been free to work with other contract caterers. Among the 3,500 national contracts currently held by 24seven are staff feeding in Tesco and B&Q stores, plus Michelin and Glaxo. It is also still fulfilling a lot of Granada's vending needs since the MBO.
Granada is thought to have sold the vending business partly to reduce corporate debt, but also because of the specialist nature of vending, which sits more comfortably as a stand-alone business.
Contact: 24seven Vending 01454 615186
Roar for more
NESCAFê is selling its table-top beverage vending machine, the Lioness, via a dedicated hotline for the firsttime. Previously available only through delivered wholesale and cash-and-carry outlets, it is expected to sell for £499 plus VAT.
The Lioness is aimed at very small catering outlets or workplace situations. It can deliver coffee, tea or chocolate in as many as 10 variations, including a range of speciality coffees.
Options include free-vend or acoin mechanism, and manual-fill or plumbed-in.
A specific coffee blend for the vendor, Special Blend, is held loose in an internal dispensing hopper.
Contact: Nestlé 0800 745845
Nescafé Lioness hotline:0870 7896262
