After our May bumper AVEX show issue we follow up this month, reviewing who was there and what went on. We have 6 pages of highlights, some superb photography and an interview with Juan Valdez the “Face” of Colombian Coffee growers. You will also find a section on the 2007 Cooler & Vending award winners, a glamorous affair held at the Novotel London West Hammersmith.

Dispensers, the UK’s leading designer and manufacturer of innovative cooling systems for the vending, soft drinks and beer dispense sectors, has won two major awards for its environmental work.

Sales of products through vending machines rose by 2.8% in 2006 to £3.52bn. The number of vending machines in operation also increased to 1.3 million, an increase of 3.1% on 2005. Sales growth in the vending market between 2002 and 2006 outperformed the increase in household expenditure on food and non-alcoholic beverages over the same period.

In Cup Plus, manufacturer of the highly acclaimed Xen-550 in cup beverage vending system, is celebrating its most successful quarter ever!

To commemorate this milestone, In Cup Plus treated its staff to a Caterham racing driving experience day. The mixture of excessive noise, petrol fumes and burning rubber was just what the hard working staff at In Cup Plus needed to let off steam after a very busy three months.

It is with great sadness the Directors of boxlogix have to announce the death of Roger Bellamy, our Commercial Director, on Saturday 7th April.

Leading UK vending services provider Selecta has been awarded a five-year contract to provide hot beverage vending machines to hardware store Wilkinson at its main distribution centre in Worksop, Nottinghamshire.

Wilkes Vending Services Ltd has recently relocated to prestigious new premises in Wakefield - close to Junction 40 of the M1 - as part of their drive for continued expansion and prominence in the region.

AVEX 2007 saw for the first time promotional staff walking the halls and distributing goodies to the visitors. The National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia - FNC, Café de Colombia and Complete Coffee went a step further and had a superb band serenading visitors each day on their stand and at the entrance area, plus they offered visitors the opportunity to meet Juan Valdez (Carlos Castaneda) who is the face of the Colombian coffee growers.

AVEX 2007 incorporating the Cooler Show was non-stop meeting, greeting, selling and buying - the whole three days were busy right up until 4pm on closure on the Thursday with the general comment that quality leads overruled the quantity of visitors.

The buzzwords at the show were ‘premium’ and ‘antiseptic’ with the industry reacting to consumer demands and looking at solutions to make the operator’s life easier. VI reports…

A range of innovative products, packaging and campaigns in the global water cooler and vending sectors was on show Tuesday 24 April at the presentation of the 2007 Cooler & Vending Awards. With 70 entries from different countries, Guest Presenter and Olympic Gold Medallist Sally Gunnell OBE was on hand to dish out the awards to winners on stage at the Novotel London West Hammersmith.

Selecta won in the Best Convenience Innovation category for Steamplicity, a vending concept which uses steam pressure cooking to offer high-quality, great-tasting and nutritious ready meals to customers 24 hours a day. Selecta’s relationship with leading European equipment manufacturers has enabled the offer to be vended.

At AVEX this year we saw Matrix catering services display the new Mini Monarch and Maxi Sovereign dispensers, both machines offer the same quality, style and technology you expect in 2007 but surprisingly and impossible as it might seem at prices lower than equivalent dispensers that they offered in 1997!

AVEX saw The Vending Corporation celebrate 30 years as a leading supplier of vending machines and services in the UK. The company featured the latest BevMax 2, BevMax Combination, BevMax 45 and BevMax 30 machines on their stand as well as launching the new KiosK Dual Temperature vendor.

Gerhardt presented a full range of vending machines during the AVEX show including their Series 7 tea brewer in Free Standing Beverage Machines as well as their Bean to Cup Machines and Vending Machines for Instant Coffee, all of which have enjoyed great success on the European mainland.

AVEX ‘07 was a massive success for Crane Merchandising Systems (CMS), which showcased a range of new specifications and graphics.

In direct response to customer demand CMS has developed a new specification for its table top Genesis B2C machine, giving it the capacity to offer freshbrew tea as well as true espresso-based drinks and fresh filter coffee.

Paul Tildesley, regional director of Springbank Industries, has helped several universities and further education colleges throughout the UK, including Staffordshire, Stoke on Trent, Coventry and Liverpool John Moores, installing over 95 vending machines within fully shopfitted retail environments.

New and improved structure in Eurogran will bring many benefits to our customers. We are in place with a strong team of dedicated employees. The structure of the organisation has been changed with the aim to increase customer service and to focus our resources even more on the vending business. The changes have been made with respect of the old values that Eurogran stands for. The high quality products and the good relationship with our customers are the cornerstones of our business.

• First and third place in ‘Best Health Marketing Initiative’
• Third place in ‘Best New Vending Product’

Following the launch of several new products at this year’s AVEX 2007 show, Aimia Foods is in celebratory mood having scooped three awards for its new Milfresh HVO-free Whitener and Milfresh Superior Granulated Skimmed Milk products.

Aimia Foods’ innovative range of trans-fatty acid (TFA) free whiteners, provide a welcome opportunity for operators to deliver improved vended hot beverages to the growing number of healthconscious consumers.

The trend towards increasingly hectic lifestyles, combined with a greater consumer awareness of healthy and functional products, is driving new opportunities for increased sales from energy and sports drinks.

I know AVEX means different things to different people, whether it’s about meeting friends and colleagues, launching new products and services or seeing what the competition is up to. For me it is also invaluable in providing a snapshot of what the industry is thinking.

The significant worldwide growth of cyber shopping, online banking, and real-time customer service has rendered the Internet the world’s largest vending machine! Additionally, the growing popularity of hotel lobby kiosks, pay-at-the-pump transactions, and retail selfcheckout also contribute to customers demonstrating an affinity for technology. As a result, American consumers have become desirous of having cashless settlement options available everywhere they shop, including vending machines.

Salary Sacrifice, is the latest innovative product to be launched from cashless payment systems specialists VMC Limited. Researching tomorrow’s needs today, combined with state of the art technology, form the ethos of VMC Limited, who launched their latest product, at the industry exhibition AVEX held at Earls Court in London.

AVEX was a very successful exhibition for Cummins-Allison. As well as having the opportunity to show new and enhanced products to our existing customers we were also afforded the chance to exhibit our entire product range to new and potential customers.

NRI - National Rejectors Inc has grown to be a leading figure in the payment solutions market (coin validators, coin changers, cashless payment systems, coin payout hoppers), operating in the vending, amusement, gaming, ticketing, cigarette-vending, telephone and parking markets. NRI has three subsidiaries in Europe - UK, Spain and France and over 50 distributors world-wide.

AstroSystems Ltd., the European division of currency validation specialist Astrosys International Ltd, continues to supply new and innovative bank note and coin validation solutions into the Vending industry.

Just as there’s more than one way to skin a cat(!?!), so there’s more than one way to make a good profit from vending. VI searches beyond the conventional beverage, confectionery, snack, catering and hygiene markets for alternative methods of generating vending revenue…

With solutions for leisure, education and B&I sites - Nestlé FoodServices has been busy developing, designing and working with its partners to enhance existing favourites and produce NEW solutions that meet the needs of the industry.

On the stand, the company was proud to show off its existing portfolio, as well as showcasing inspiring prototypes that take a look at the future of dispense.

The Simpli-Flex® 2100 Moulded Cabinet cup dispenser is available from Modular® Dispensing Systems, a division of Tomlinson Industries. This revolutionary dispenser is stackable, allowing operators to stack several dispensers on top of each other for multiple dispensing applications in a minimum amount of space.

With new legislation banning smoking in the workplace and most public premises, Glasdon UK Limited have designed two NEW cigarette disposal units to add to their already comprehensive range of cigarette bins.

The Vending Corporation celebrated 30 years as the leading distributor of vending machines throughout Europe at AVEX recently and received over US$1 Million in orders during the show.