Nestlé has announced the launch of its 2011 ‘Get Set, Go Free’ promotion, which offers consumers the opportunity to try out a range of activities free of charge throughout the summer holidays, and for the first time ever Nestlé Professional will be taking part.

Masteroast, the private label coffee roaster and packer, teed off its annual Golf Day to raise money for forces charity Help for Heroes. Customers and suppliers joined Masteroast for a great day’s sport over 18 holes at the Greetham Valley Golf Club in Rutland.

Vivreau, the world’s leading innovator and manufacturer of mains fed purified drinking systems was the proud sponsor of the Green Champion Award at this year’s Considerate Hoteliers Award event. The award, which was won by The Savoy’s Green Team Chairman, Debra Patterson, recognises a person, who through sheer dedication and determination, has inspired others to raise the green standard. Nominated by people from within the industry, the winner is seen as a true green champion.

Trebor is launching an innovative new product, Trebor Mint Pot. The new pack will include 50 peppermint Softmints in a pot, with the usual eye catching pack design. With its larger format, the new pot has been created to allow consumers to easily access the mints, making it perfect for sharing and for enjoying at work.

Benders has taken delivery of a new high-speed cup forming machine as part of the company's continued investment in the growth of the business. This new high-speed machine will not only build upon Benders’ reputation for quality, engineered products but is also part of the company’s longer term strategy to invest back into the business.

Leading disposable packaging manufacturer, Huhtamaki, has responded to customer demand for larger beverages by introducing a new 20oz size to its premium range of double wall paper hot cups. Perfect for premium beverages such as frothy cappuccinos, creamy lattes and gourmet hot chocolates, the new 20oz size reflects the trend by consumers seeking larger beverages that they can enjoy on the go.

The UK’s largest water cooler trade association, the EDWCA, has issued a warning against the use of unregulated and unaccredited water cooler suppliers. The European Drinking Water Cooler Association warns that drinking water quality and hygiene is being compromised by unregulated and untrained distributors.

Andi Redwood is the latest foodservice expert to sign up to the Nestlé Professional “Chef Club” ambassador programme. The club has been designed to support gifted chefs by providing inspiration and collaboration along with access to offers, promotions, industry events and masterclasses.

The team at RPC Tedeco - Gizeh have chosen Macmillan Cancer Support as their charity partner for 2011. Speaking at this year's AVEX exhibition at the NEC Birmingham, David Lowe General Manager commented, “We have a very positive employee forum team at our site in Kenfig South Wales and they agreed unanimously that Macmillan would be our charity partner for 2011."

AVS, the largest vending buying group in the UK, has extended its contract for paper vending and hot cups to Benders Paper Cup Company for a further 2 years.

Leading British equipment manufacturer DarenthMJS has launched its very latest equipment offering - The Roma Bean to Cup. Enhancing its already extensive range, the Roma Bean to cup combines a stylish matt black and highly polished stainless steel cabinet design, accentuated with neon-effect backlighting available in a range of colours.

For those of you who visited AVEX, you’ll probably be aware that we re-launched our hugely successful Training Programme at the exhibition! The Training Programme, which is needed for the AVA Quality Programme, is an extremely valuable tool and allows you to continue to provide a quality service to your customers.

No Fear Extreme Energy is the fastest growing, large format can in the UK energy market and on a recent AVA industry golf day in Coventry, the drink proved that it also contains the secret to hitting a hole-in-one.

Emmi has announced a new member of its Caffe Latte iced coffee range - Extra Shot. As its name suggests, the new beverage contains an extra shot of real espresso to deliver a great, natural pick me up at any time of the day.

The Paper Cup Company’s Green Paper Cup was originally produced for customers who wanted to be more environmentally friendly by recycling cups. The New Green Paper Cup takes things further by helping customers reduce their carbon footprint. For every 1000 cups sold the Green Earth Appeal will plant one tree - enough to offset the carbon and replace the wood used in the manufacturing of the cups.

Pack Tunch has launched three new flavoured health bars – apple & cinnamon, pineapple & coconut and lemon & lime, all of which contain California Raisins. The bars can be found in a range of health and wholefood shops, gyms and sports facilities across the UK and retail at 99p per 45g bar.

Pepsi is offering its UK consumers the opportunity to be ‘The World’s Best Mate’ by giving them the chance to win wild experiences for themselves and their friends every hour for eight weeks from July. Lead by Pepsi Max, the on-pack promotion will feature across the range of pack sizes including 500ml, 600ml, 1litre and 2litre PET bottles as well as the 330ml can.

The EVA has announced that the registration website is now open for the EVA's AGM and Workshop 2011, which will take place on 12 and 13 December, in Brussels. The topic of this edition is: "European Vending - Understanding current market issues & trends - across Europe".

With a number of new, high tech machines dazzling at Avex, operators could be forgiven for feeling financially out of their depth. There are, however, more opportunities than you think for taking these machines into the field to compete with the high street...

Soft drinks have once again demonstrated their resilience in spite of tough economic conditions, growing to £9.4bn according to the 2011 Britvic Soft Drinks Report published in March.

Take-home sales total £6.6 billion and growing by 6.6% in value. Impulse sales growth overtook the Grocery Multiples, as more consumers took advantage of ‘top up shops’ and single serve formats became more popular.

Hall 3 at Birmingham’s NEC was recently jam packed with the very latest in vending and water. With companies competing for the last few stands, AVEX was a sell out and the exhibition was a great mix of established companies, new entrants to the refreshment market and some non-traditional vending companies.

My AVEX experience was one of great pleasure, seeing exactly how the vending industry had moved into the 21st century. It was fantastic to see the buzz of the exhibitors passionate to inspire visitors with their product.

Van Houten Carolina is a new hot chocolate drink from Barry Callebaut that is truly characteristic with it's high content of cocoa. A premium beverage especially formulated for the vending and HoReCa markets, it contains a 48% cocoa content while giving a true chocolate taste sensation.

Thomas Automatics supply the famous Dolphin range of robust and user-friendly high speed note counters and the Pelican table top coin sorters. Both devices save vending operators and venues a huge amount of time during end-of-day cash reconciliations.