With more than 55,000 products in its portfolio, an annual R&D spend in excess of $1.5 billion and net revenues of $24.5 billion, 3M employs a staggering 73,500 people worldwide. Marcus Whitely of 3M Cuno Filtration Products, together with Marketing Executive Katie Gibbs invited Vending International for an exclusive tour of its stunning HQ in Bracknell to find out more...

Pronounced ‘hoff-e-mar’, the Jofemar name is largely unknown in the UK. In Spain, however, it is quite a different matter. Based in the north west of the country at Peralta, it is one of Spain’s largest manufacturers of vending machines and payment systems. Established in 1971, this privately owned business has grown from modest beginnings to today’s multinational business with five offices in Spain, three abroad and product sales in 51 countries around the globe. The ultra modern, technologically advanced factory in Peralta covers a massive 37,500 m2 and the group turns over €50 million annually.

Health is a central question for today’s food industries and it is now widely accepted that a healthy and varied diet must be a balanced one - without of course excluding the concept of pleasure. We need to ask what the declining consumption of cocoa and sugar means for our sector, particularly in the light of the removal of drinks vending machines from schools.

An article by Nick Wyke, published in 2007 by the Times Online underlined just how important the out of home food market is: “With about 60 per cent of our waking hours spent in work, and about 75 per cent of working-age people in the UK in employment, one adult meal in three is eaten at work.”