The idea is that the Star Chamber members will be invited to give their opinions and comment on matters of the day which are of importance to vending, and pass them on the readers of the magazine.

Probably in an ideal world, the Chamber would meet in person to discuss the current topic, but given the pressure on members' time and the cost of travelling and possible overnight accommodation, I opted for an approach in which members provide their contributions in writing which are then reproduced in the magazine feature verbatim. This is important because only the exact thoughts and words of each contributor are reproduced - just as if they had been recorded or taken down by shorthand at a round-table meeting - making the complete feature a seriously important comment on the subject under discussion.

I am delighted and grateful that each of the ten individuals I contacted initially regarding this initiative readily agreed to become a member of the Vending Star Chamber, and thank them for devoting their time and expertise.

I am planning for there to be four Vending Star Chamber features a year in VI, but nobody would be happier than I if ‘quarterly' should become ‘bi-monthly'. It is a two-way thing - readers who have ideas for potential discussion subjects should give me a call.

Who knows? There could be a bottle of champagne for the provider of an idea that is adopted as a Vending Star Chamber subject.

I am writing this page just a few hours after returning from the Italian vending exhibition, Venditalia, in Milan. While a full report on the show will appear in the next issue, there are a few comments that worth airing here and now.

Venditalia continues to be a well organised and well presented show, seemingly very well attended, and with a good number and spread of exhibitors.

Having said that, I think  I detected fewer visitors from the UK than at the previous Venditalia shows two and four years ago, and the only truly UK exhibitor was The Vending Corporation - although the vast majority of the familiar multinationals were, of course, highly visible.

If I were to pick out a single exhibitor - which, I know, is really very unfair - it would have to Bianchi Vending, which has invented love (‘live our vending experience').

This super self-indulgent concept resulted in an excellent, spacious stand (permanently full of visitors) and the kind of brochure - no, book - to make all machine manufacturers envious. Bianchi has spent the budget and was clearly reaping the rewards.

The organisers of Venditalia were claiming their show to be Europe's leading/largest vending exhibition. I imagine that the organisers of the French and German shows might have something to say about that - and although AVEX (for so long the undisputed European leader which spawned the current flood of national vending shows) is currently reforming and restructuring, it will be back up there in the top two or three.

Credit where it's due. I recently had the dubious pleasure of travelling to London again from the  busy Chatham rail station in Kent, scene of my experience a couple of months ago (as reported in these columns) of virtually empty snack/confectionery vending machines. I am delighted to report that this time the machines were fully stocked and in great demand by travellers. That's what vending should be all about - well done, Selecta.