The vending industry is continuously advancing with increasingly diverse products on offer across a huge range of user groups. These include organisations in both the public and private sectors with varying priorities ranging from healthy eating and employee ‘wellness’ to energy efficiency and green concerns. In order for professionals in the vending industry to provide and maintain the best possible service to their clients, it is essential that they have access to the most appropriate, cost effective and energy efficient products and services on the market.

Sleek design, slim line, small location vending machine

Wall mount or stand-alone operation.

Robust Cabinet

11 selections (9+2) Max 14 selection

LED illuminated. Polycarbonate window

Product Pusher

Combining excellent performance with great flexibility, Kobalto creates a wide variety of drink selections simply and efficiently including authentic Italian espressos, rich creamy chocolate and light frothy cappuccinos.

Available in several versions with a wide range of products and innovative technology, this machine can create professional drinks using a range of ingredients to suit a variety of tastes.

Samba offers a flexible vending experience that can satisfy all tastes and needs. With its stylish and contemporary design, including energy saving LED lighting and elegant aluminium side panels, Samba complements any environment with its neat and understated aesthetics. It has the capacity to dispense snacks, food, can and bottles and the configuration of the cell is completely flexible.

Canto is at the top of Necta range in terms of technological innovation and drink quality. Its refined high-impact aesthetic is characterised by a polycarbonate continuous front panel from the top to the bottom, which accommodates the selection pushbutton panel. The aluminium, as well as black and bright polycarbonate side panel, is both elegant and sturdy. Attractive, interchangeable panels complete the image of the machine, together with an ergonomic dispensing compartment. Its peerless ease of cleaning and maintenance completes the offer of this highly advanced vending machine.

After what seemed like the longest winter in recent history, the sun has finally emerged victorious and consumers are thirstier than ever. Vending International takes a look back at 2010 to find out why the cold drinks market looks set for even hotter sales in 2011.

Soft drinks have once again demonstrated their resilience in spite of tough economic conditions, growing to £9.4bn - that's according to the 2011 Britvic Soft Drinks Report. Murray Harris, Customer Management Director, explains: “2010 was another a tough year for UK consumers, but soft drinks remained resilient. Although people were watching their pounds, they were still willing to spend a comparatively small amount on a soft drink, whether it’s at the train station on the way to work or at their local retailer on the way home from school."

In October last year, Fast Food Nation used the terms ‘Functional’, ‘Healthy’ and ‘Green’ to describe what it saw as the latest trends in fast food. “The trend towards ‘adding’ ingredients to foods that have a specific function has made its way into some of the high street retailers – advertising fish fingers with omega three oils, for example.”

Aimia Foods will be taking two stands at this year’s AVEX exhibition. Stand D54 will host the company’s hot drinks, including its flagship Pour Moi coffee-shop concept for added value vending. On show will be the concept’s exciting new machine branding, new cup designs and two new drink recipes.

Come and join Nestlé Professional® at this year’s AVEX (15th and 16th June) on stand B30 and learn about creating shared value for the long term with The NESCAFÉ® Plan.

The NESCAFÉ® Plan goes ‘beyond the cup’ and delivers value throughout the coffee lifecycle – from bean to cup. This means a £200 million pound investment over 10 years. As part of the plan, which NESCAFÉ® proudly launched in 2010, all directly purchased green coffee will meet the internationally recognised 4C sustainability standards by 2015 and Nestlé® will distribute 220 million high-yield, disease resistant coffee plantlets to farmers by 2020.

3M will exhibit its popular range of scale control filters for coffee and vending operators on Stand C74 at AVEX 2011.

A highlight will be the new ScaleGard Pro H+ Range of disposable scale control filtration systems from 3M. These feature non buffered resin which allows for an extension in capacity claims due to suppression of the pH.

Wed 15 & Thurs 16 June, NEC Birmingham.

Concerned about the VAT you pay on hot drinks? Know how to spot a fake coin?

These are just two of the topics that will be included in the AVEX seminar programme that will be of particular interest to vending and water operators, specifiers and users.

Ever heard of Manfred Bog? Myles Duckworth, partner indirect taxation at Deloittes has, and he will explain how Manfred Bog could change the ruling on Vat paid on hot drinks. Operators make sure you don’t miss this one!.

MEI has launched a new cashless range, CashFlow® mei-pay, as part of their Complete Payment offering. The CashFlow® mei-pay range was developed in collaboration with MICROTRONIC to offer operators an affordable route to provide consumers the choice of paying by cash or cashless. This combination has consistently delivered increases in sales on sites across Europe.

Aimia Foods has announced further investment in its plant facilities – based at Haydock, UK – following the success of its £1m continuous agglomeration facility which was installed 12 months ago.

To further widen its expertise and attract new brand owners seeking production solutions, Aimia has announced the installation of a brand new pouch packing line, which it expects will be fully operational by June.

The EVA's Technical Committee has updated its EVA EMP – Energy Measurement Protocol. The main difference in the new version, EMP 3.0., is that the document is divided into two parts: chilled, frozen & ambient machines (EMP 3.0a), and hot & cold drinks machines (EMP 3.0b).

Furthermore, the EVA Technical Committee will submit its EMP 3.0b protocol to CENELEC, which is the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization. The process could take one to three years, and the use of the protocol as a standard will remain voluntary, as it is now.

Want to know more about vending? Looking to discover how vending can benefit your business? Interested to learn about the very latest offerings in the vending world, including new technologies and innovations? If you’ve answered ‘yes’, then a visit to AVEX (15th–16th June 2011, NEC) – the UK’s largest vending and water show – is a must!

The Cooler Recycling Group who are exhibiting at the forthcoming AVEX, have announced the completion of the first stage of the installation of Europe’s first fully compliant commercial fridge recycling plant at its new site near Rugby. The facility will accept ‘end of life’ commercial refrigeration equipment and panels containing blown insulation, for treatment and disposal.

As part of its ongoing brand and product renovation, Nestlé Professional® has announced the launch of NESCAFÉ® Gold Blend the ‘nation’s favourite premium coffee1’ branded 9oz paper cups for vending.

Matt Lane, Nestlé Professional® Category Lead for Vending, said: “NESCAFÉ® is recognised as the UK’s most trusted coffee both in home2 and out of home3. And we see this as a big opportunity for NESCAFÉ® Gold Blend operators to increase the drink price they are receiving per cup.

Nestlé Professional® announces a further waste reduction – by reducing the packaging used for NESCAFÉ® Latte, NESCAFÉ® Cappuccino and AERO® sachet outer packaging.

The packaging now uses 36.3% less material and creates an annual saving of 15.3 tonnes. However, customers can rest assured the amount of product in each serving remains the same!

Over 7,585 natural and organic industry professionals were out in force at the beginning of April, as London Olympia’s spectacular Grand Hall was transformed into a vibrant showcase of the very best in natural and organic products at the 15th Natural & Organic Products Europe.

Lucozade Sport’s new advertising campaign starring Brit award winning rapper Tinie Tempah, world renowned drummer Travis Barker and Irish World Champion boxer Katie Taylor will launch Lucozade’s new YES campaign - a celebration of energy in inspirational and infectious forms which represents a repositioning of the sport and energy drinks brand.

Italian espresso machine manufacturer La Cimbali’s Magnum On Demand grinder has helped to break the world record set at the 2011 London Coffee Festival for ‘the number of espressos made in an hour’, grinding coffee used to make 1,500 espressos on the La Cimbali stand.

The University of Canberra will become the first Australian campus to ban the sale of bottled water the Sydney Morning Herald reports. It's believed to be the largest ban of its kind in Australia and the first across a university. Organisers say the ban will stop 140,000 PET plastic bottles from being sold annually.

Fairtrade tea and coffee brand Clipper has appointed Masteroast as its channel partner for the foodservice market.

Masteroast will now be responsible for supplying Clipper’s complete selection of teas and infusions – and its new range of espresso and filter coffees – to the hundreds of third party companies that distribute tea and coffee directly to independent cafés and coffee shops.

All the entries for the 2011 Healthy Schools’ Caterer competition have now been judged and Cater Link has been chosen from the many entries as the overall winner in the Primary Schools section of the competition.

California Raisins has been running this competition for 6 years and since the competition began, hundreds of caterers from across the UK have entered. We have witnessed first-hand the superb work that has been put into schools catering and healthy eating.

Bunzl Vending Services is celebrating charitable success at its Merrill Lynch sites, after Services Manager, Robert Johnston sold over 400 cases of Thirsty Planet Water to fund the installation of a water pump in Malawi. In agreement with Merrill Lynch, Thirsty Planet was stocked in vending machines across multiple locations.

Nestlé Professional® introduces the first ‘CHEF® CLUB’ ambassador as Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge of the Hand and Flowers (Marlow).

Kerridge, undoubtedly one of the industries brightest stars is a stalwart supporter of initiatives designed to give something back to developing talent, and showcasing the UK’s cheffing skills.

Abbeychart, based in Faringdon, Oxfordshire, is celebrating 20 years serving customers in the vending, pure water, soft drinks and catering industries.

Peter Best founded Abbeychart in 1991 with a small component sourcing and supply company serving the beverage industry, assisted by Peter's partner, Anthea Beszant, using the garden shed as a store and the kitchen as a workshop. From the very start Abbeychart set out its stall as a customer-focused, reliable and quality supplier of parts. The company now operates from purpose-built offices and large distribution centre at Faringdon.

Already the recipient of an award from the Society of Food Hygiene and Technology, Byotrol has a unique formulation that enables it to remain effective after it has dried making it much, much longer lasting than bleach, hydrogen peroxide and alcohol based sanitisers.

Bunzl Vending Services recently held product sampling events of Sun Valley’s Nature Snacks focused on London’s square mile, reaching over 12,000 consumers in four of Bunzl’s largest sites across a four day period.

In the ten years since the launch of Boost functional drinks, the company has increased sales year-on-year to become the UK's 3rd largest energy drinks brand in Impulse*!

To celebrate Boost are giving away lots of prizes by running competitions and promotions, and have a few surprises up their sleeves to get the celebrations going. Keep your eyes peeled for details!

Selecta has teamed up with Cadbury to support the next stage of the ‘Spots v Stripes’ challenge - a series of nine challenges to find people who can perform everyday tasks against the clock, and giving everyone in the UK a fighting chance of winning a World Record!

Danish ingredients firm Chr Hansen reports a 23% increase in H1 2010/11 revenue to €315m, with operating profit also climbing 23% to €71m.

In Chile, Nestlé and Fonterra-owned dairy company Soprole withdraw their joint venture proposal following opposition from local antitrust authorities.

Suntory-owned Frucor Beverages announces that Managing Director Mark Cowsill is to step down, with his successor yet to be named.

Bunzl Vending Services has re–launched its website to clearly define its business offering. Visitors are guided through seven easy to navigate sections which include one entirely devoted to its commitment to ethical and sustainable vending solutions.

Sunkist has stepped its marketing campaign up a gear with the launch of a new website and Facebook page.

On the new website (www.sunkist.co.uk) the brand’s heritage of Californian surf, sea and sand has been translated to the screen to feature information on Sunkist as well as fun interactive elements. It also has a link to the Facebook page (www.facebook.com/sunkistuk) which has updated news on the brand as well as regular high-value prize competitions.

Lavazza has become the Official Coffee of The Championships, Wimbledon for a three year period from 2011. The deal will see the Italian coffee brand being supplied across 60 service points at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, including 13 public cafés and restaurants, all hospitality areas and the media centre, as well as serving all officials and players.