Datateam Publishing is pleased to announce the appointment of John Sewell as Editor of Vending International, the longest established magazine serving the UK automatic vending industry.

With some 26 years' experience working with the vending industry, John is a member of the respected Vending 21 Club - an organisation which was actually established by the first editor of VI.

The following message has been received from Carl Bjorkstrand:

"Dear All,
It is with great sadness that I have to inform you that John Dixon has died after a short battle with cancer. During his last days he was at home and had his family around him. Our thoughts are now with his wife Gill and two children.

Three years ago, Apogee international and members of the Vending Industry gifted a vending machine, servicing and ingredients to TreeHouse, a National Centre for Autism Education. In August this year, Apogee Director Elaine Wood, started another project, this time on behalf of the Chrysalis School for Autism in Codicote, Herts, where her daughter Anna is Head of ABA.

The exhibitor line-up so far for Convenience Retailing Show 2008 reads like a who's who of the convenience industry. There's Allied Bakeries, Arla Foods, Bernard Matthews, Birds Eye, Bobby's Foods, British American Tobacco, Card Connection, Choices, Christie & Co, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Country Choice, Gallaher, GlaxoSmithKline, Imperial Tobacco, Kenco Coffee Company, Kepak, Kettle Foods, Procter & Gamble, Sony, Sun Valley, Sweet Cred, Tchibo Coffee, Unilever, Warburtons and YP Electronics, to name just a few. On the retail side exhibitors include Bargain Booze, Landmark Wholesale, Musgrave Retail Partners, Spar and Threshers.

Senior supply chain & logistics professionals from across Europe's leading FMCG, CPG and Retail organisations will gather in Brussels on 26-28 February 2008 to discuss new ways to drive supply chain innovation and sustainability through new models of collaboration.

The 5th China International Vending Systems & Commercial Self-Service Products Exhibition 2008 will be held on June 26-28, 2008 at Shanghai Everbright Convention & Exhibition Center in Shanghai, P. R. China.

International participation at Food & Drink Expo 2008 (FDE 08) is on the rise with space increases of more than 60% being taken by Austria and Italy. This, added to a first time pavilion from Greece, gives real grounds for optimism that the 2008 show's international flavour will be at an all time high.

Rexam, the global consumer packaging company and the world's leading beverage can maker, has released the 2007-08 edition of its ‘Consumer Packaging Report'. Entitled "Imagining tomorrow", the report is available to download from Rexam's website www.rexam.com, where you can also request a hard copy.

Apogee International Limited have announced the promotion of Ian Kirkman to the position of Joint Managing Director. "Ian's appointment is based on merit, loyalty, the ability to rise above adversity and, above all, his being the right man for the job. I hope you all will join me in congratulating him," said Apogee Director David Wood.

A K Muller (UK) Ltd was a joint venture between parent company A K Muller GmbH and UK company Becktech, set up in 1993 to supply solenoid valves to the UK vending industry. Earlier this year Becktech sold their shares back to A K Muller GmbH in an arrangement that was amicable to all parties involved.

Leading UK vending services provider Selecta has joined an elite group of companies after its training programme was highly commended at the National Training Awards 2007.

Autobar, one of Europe's largest vending organisations, has added two new vending companies to the Group - Absolute Vending and Springbank Industries.

A new range of high quality soups is being launched under the Ainsley Harriott brand into the vending sector through the Drinkmaster network.

Britain's love affair with premium food and drink will intensify over the next five years, with spending on premium products to eclipse £20bn per year by 2012, according to research by international food and grocery expert IGD.

UK food and beverage manufacturers have agreed a voluntary deadline of end of 2008 to remove blacklist of artificial colours from their products.

The American Beverage Association and the International Bottled Water Association announce plans to hold a joint 2008 trade fair in Las Vegas.

G2 Integrated Solutions (G2IS) has launched its new website, www.g2is.co.uk. The new site is easier to navigate and provides interactive tools to assist customers. It reflects G2IS' expertise and extensive customer portfolio, and its new design follows the global branding of its new parent company, G4Tec.

Tri-Star, one of the leading, disposable food packaging solution providers, has expanded and strengthened its business, following the acquisition of Nu-Line Marketing, a catering and disposable packaging supplier based in London.

The Annual General Meeting, the EVA's highest decision-making body, elected Arnaud van Amerongen by unanimous vote, on 29 November. Mr van Amerongen, supported by Hubert Boyer (the new Vice-President) and Michael Maurer (the new Treasurer), will preside over a highly charged legislative agenda for the next two years.

Designed for any ‘to-go' environment, the vending station in which Rustlers hot snacks can be prepared in less time than it takes to boil a kettle offers a great revenue generating opportunity for operators. For full information on the Rustlers vending programme call Outlook Management Services on 01295 688930.

The EVA has recently welcomed Cashfree Vending as a new Direct Member, a Norwegian company which develops cashless solutions for vending.

Seaga Manufacturing, Inc., parent company of Seaga UK Ltd and Seaga India Ltd., a leading manufacturer and global supplier of vending machines and refrigerated coolers announces the addition of Gary Partridge as International Sales Director. Gary brings additional experience to the team and will be key to growing the organisation's business worldwide. His responsibilities at Seaga will include sales and marketing in Europe, Asia, South America, and Australasia.

The AVA is committed to quality and, of course, hygiene is an important part of the established AVA Quality System. AVA members have always been confident that they operate to the highest hygiene standards but up till now no scientific study had been conducted to prove the point. Now that study has been done and the evidence published in scientific journals.

Web-based shipping is underpinning customer service for vending machine manufacturer Seaga UK Ltd. Working with its logistics supplier, Delivery Solutions Ltd (Delsol), Seaga UK has implemented NetDespatch Velocity (www.netdespatch.com) as its online parcel shipping and tracking solution for supplying spare parts for its range of vending machines.

LTT Vending is celebrating the latest addition to its impressive array of awards. The company, which was established in Bradford in 1960 and today employs 160 people at its three regional service centres in Leeds, Lewes and Leicester has demonstrated its commitment to excellence by achieving the prestigious Investors In People quality mark at its Leeds head office.

A Yorkshire based thermoformed packaging specialist has invested over £4 million in a new plant which produces food-grade plastic packaging directly from recycled PET including bottles.

Lavazza , Italy's favourite coffee, has opened a new UK headquarters and state of the art training centre.

On-cup vending initiatives, bundles and other offers are a great way to instil a feel good factor amongst staff and visitors, as well as increase revenue in those organisations where vended beverages are purchased.

Original Video, the UK's only manufacturer of DVD rental kiosks, have secured a £125000 private investment through the South West Angel and Investor Network (SWAIN), to fully launch their company owned units into outlets nationwide. For further information call 0870 1436769.

VI has been speaking with Envirosource, a company which has manufactured a new type of water cooler which converts air to water. Producing the purest drinking water from the air we breathe and needing only an electric supply to install, their machines are ideal for offices or homes where no plumbing is available and save the purchase of water bottles.

KioskCom Europe opened its doors on Wednesday 7th November at London Olympia to reveal all aspects of the self-service industry. I can hear you thinking "but Vending is itself a self service industry" and you are right, the synergy between a vending machine and a kiosk is growing stronger by the day.

Tea is tea! Its health benefits are well known and accepted, but there seems to be a hurdle in the way of making it a must buy from a vending machine. No matter how clever you make the vending experience, getting your cuppa from the machine is not the same as making it in the pot. So, just what do customers look for in their cup of hot cha? Furthermore, what new ideas can vending operators adopt to make their offerings more appealing and add that extra factor at tea time? Iestyn Armstrong-Smith asks is it a matter of good branding?

Tea company Imporient is a member of the Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP). This is a non-commercial alliance of major tea packing companies working together to promote social responsibility in the world tea trade and ensure the ethical sourcing of tea.

Market-leading drinks systems provider KLIX reportedly has uncovered a number of trends and consumer insights into drinks products and their environmental impact.

Coffee maybe the trendsetting beverage, but tea is actually growing faster says Eurogran. The vending ingredient specialist is following this trend closely and is now offering some of the hottest tea beverages for vending.

Flowtech has been providing innovative filtration solutions to the industry for the past 30 years, and is constantly evolving its expertise and product portfolio in line with changing markets and latest technical developments.

Looking at ‘raw' ingredients first, leading manufacturers of renewable food and industrial ingredients, Tate & Lyle has been prodigious in bringing new nutritional products to market. Dietary fibres and lipids have been highlighted as recent innovations to hit the market. The company's PROMITOR branded fibres will enable food and beverage manufacturers to boost the dietary fibre content of their products without detracting from the taste of their wares.

Barclaycard Business has signed up more than 1000 retail outlets for OneTouch, its in-store contactless payment technology, including major high street names EAT and Krispy Kreme. Having announced its intention to introduce contactless payments to the UK last year, Barclaycard Business now predicts that several thousand retail outlets will be ready to accept contactless payments.

Selecta will initially provide 400 fresh bean-to-cup machines to Shell service stations across the UK. Products available will include freshly-ground bean-to-cup coffees, teas from PG Tips and drinking chocolate.

Reading University Students' Union (RUSU) has implemented a Reverse Vending Recycling Machine to encourage students to recycle plastic bottles and aluminium cans. The green initiative was made made possible through joint funding from RUSU and The University of Reading's Annual Fund Campaign. The machine will encourage students to recycle plastic bottles and aluminum cans when on campus.

Glasdon UK's  Nexus 100 Recycling Bin system has been designed to help maximise the collection of recycled material and help organisations achieve higher levels of waste recycling. 

A K Muller (UK) Ltd have further extended their range of boiler valves with a new anti-limescale version. Their Commercial Manager, Tim Barker, explains: "Our engineers took the industry standard 46.000 series boiler valve and dramatically redesigned the internal parts to combat the build up of lime scale. Firstly, the valves inlet has been increased in diameter and internally slopes towards the valve chamber.

Difficulties locking vending machines without power can be quickly and easily resolved with a new double latching solenoid by Magnet Schultz Ltd, market leader in the manufacturer of specialist solenoid actuators and mechanisms. Called the MGPU 019, the solenoid is a versatile device combining lightweight, compact design with excellent functionality.

EAO, the Expert for Human Machine Interfaces, launches a rugged keypad with integral adaptability that offers customers greater choice and shorter lead times.