Selecta has been awarded a five-year contract extension worth more than £1 million to provide comprehensive public vending services to Eurotunnel in Folkestone.

The third Polish vending exhibition - Vending Poland 2008 - takes place at the Expo XX1 Centre in Warsaw on 25th and 26th September, hosted by the Polish Vending Association (Polskie Stowarzyszenie Vendingu) - PSV.

In January 2008, Kraft announced its intention to transfer its equipment and servicing operation to the maintenance services specialists, GVS, stating that the partnership will enable them to focus on its core business of providing great coffee.

BRITA has announced a major partnership with Eden Springs to improve accessibility to BRITA filtered water via EdenSprings point of use machines across the UK. The partnership brings together EdenSprings' POU expertise and existing service network, with the world's leading water filtration brand, to offer customers access to BRITA filtered water in offices, public buildings and other out of home environments.

granini, the premium continental fruit juice brand, has launched a new single-serve line exclusively for the out-of-home sector.

Leading technology company, Knowledge Online has launched its anticipated -Survey software for the vending industry. The new technology is said to improve the speed and accuracy of surveys, through the convenience of real-time and automated survey creation on a PDA.

Julia Wilson, Sales Manager and Steve Dolman, Training Manager with N&W Global Vending, recently hosted a four-day Summer Roadshow in Bradford - N&W's first in Yorkshire.

EAO has introduced a new range of vandal-resistant pushbuttons to improve the design and durability of control panels.

Huhtamaki's Bioware range of bio-coated paper cups can now be composted as part of a new collection scheme offered by Save a Cup.

As the world's most international tobacco group, with quality brands sold in more than 180 markets, British American Tobacco (BAT) is now at the forefront when it comes to cashless payment technology.

To help prevent those inevitable spillages, Huhtamaki is offering its new Strongholder carry trays - an ideal solution for customers looking to carry several drinks at the same time!

United Biscuits (UBUK), a leading manufacturer of bagged snacks, biscuits and cakes, has appointed Dave Pickup (pictured above) as Sales Director. Dave joins UBUK with a wealth of grocery retail experience having previously been a Divisional Sales Director at British Bakeries (Hovis) and Manor Bakeries at Premier Foods.

McVitie's Cake Company, part of UBUK and the No. 1 manufacturer in the £27m Impulse Snack Cakes sector, has relaunched a ten-product range of muffins, flapjacks and slices to help continue its six-year record of continued growth. The re-design will reposition the products as tasty and convenient snacks that are baked from high quality, wholesome ingredients, and will be supported under the ‘Good Food, Fast!^TM' banner.

Cadbury, the UK's largest confectionery business, recently opened its newly refurbished staff restaurant at its manufacturing facility in Bournville, Birmingham.

Sunshine seems always to have had a magnetic effect on members of the vending industry. Here, Ernie Johnson's camera has captured some ‘faces' that many readers will recognise, enjoying some of the warm stuff in Alicante. We don't know who actually took the shot, though!

Working in partnership with 100 per cent fairtrade nut company Liberation, comedian Harry Hill is launching Harry's Nuts!, a brand of fairtrade salted peanuts.

When the first PowerMate stairclimber appeared in Gibraltar the close-knit business community watched with interest. VenCom supply large vending machines to businesses and in high-rise blocks, and delivery could sometimes be a challenge.

Despite the fact that we are going through turbulent economic times, few could accuse the vending industry of being lethargic or depressed. Just look at the range of events taking place during the coming couple of months.

The Vending Star Chamber - a Vending International initiative - is a group of ten individuals, nominated for their knowledge of and service to the UK vending industry. The members, who together represent all sectors of the industry, are invited, from time to time, to give readers of Vending International and beyond the benefit of their knowledge and opinion on matters of current importance to the vending industry, its suppliers and customers.

There has never been so much detailed media coverage on what is happening or will happen to the UK Economy. It's sometimes contradictory, often exaggerated and ALWAYS WRONG!

The received wisdom in our industry is that vending is counter-cyclical. As the economy suffers a down turn, so businesses close their canteens and install vending machines. Fair enough, this was a common phenomenon in the early '90s, when we had the last recession, and there are sure to be companies considering this course of action now.

The Director General of the ECFin produces a number of economic indicators, one of which is a complicated measure of Economic Sentiment. It tracks consumer and manufacturing mood and shows that somewhere around the turn of the year it changed from Optimism to Pessimism.

The credit crunch has already had an impact on the foodservice market. While eating out occasions are not generally thought to have declined, it is agreed by industry experts that consumers have tended to move their purchases to mid and low-priced outlets. While in the workplace any employment decline is likely to affect vending consumption.

Not a day has gone by this year without the media highlighting the consequences or potential consequences of the current economic situation/credit crunch. Remember it was British Gas increasing its prices by 35 per cent with immediate effect? Sometimes the media are rightly accused of scaremongering but in this case a lot of what they have been predicting has turned out to be true.

A few months back I wrote that some of our customers had been expressing concern about the sustainability of their credit lines in the ‘credit crunch'. Since then, it goes without saying that conditions have significantly worsened and business credit is even more of a pressing issue than it was earlier in the year. It therefore comes as a surprise to me that working capital management does not always appear to be top priority for vending operators - when the reality is that all companies who ignore the finer points of good financial management do so at their peril.

Media reports on the state of the economy over the past three months have been very depressing. The reported forecast and outlook on the future is equally grim, with the result that many businesses and individuals are significantly cutting back on spending.

It was only a matter of ‘when' not ‘if' - quite clearly the irresponsible behaviour of the banks and other lending institutions led to an entire revaluation of properties both in the USA and here in the UK. Look around, as a result of interest only unsecured mortgages; there are rows and rows of empty developed flats in the city centres in the UK which many have caught an absolute cold on.

Recession, it's not a new phenomenon but an old foe that hasn't visited for a while.

As a vending industry ‘veteran' I have experienced the recessions of 1974 and 1991, with unpleasant memories of both, and now have to face the downturn of 2008. We have, since 1997, been led to believe that our prime ministerial masters, TB and GB, had discovered some magic pills - the buzz words were prudence and stability. Most people were taken in by it. TB in particular took great delight in taunting the opposition front bench with the line ‘no more boom and bust'.

In the US, CMS is a leading manufacturer of snack, food, cold drinks and combination vending machines, while in the UK CMS designs and manufactures highly regarded hot beverage machines.

Aimia Foods, the independent supplier of hot and cold beverages, has launched a new luxury hot chocolate for UK vending and foodservice operators. Amour de Chocolat offers an ultra indulgent hot chocolate formulated for high-end vending and foodservice outlets. In line with current consumer trends, Amour de Chocolat is a more natural chocolate beverage option which is HVO free and contains a high cocoa content for a rich dark continental flavour.

Beverage specialist Barry Callebaut offers a range of hot chocolate drinks, including a new one containing 50 per cent less sugar than traditional recipes. With a 24 per cent cocoa content compared to a UK market average of 9-12 per cent, Van Houten Choco Less Sugar offers great machine functionality and good margins due to lower dosage requirements.

Cocodirect Instant Hot Chocolate is one of the first Fairtrade vending chocolates available in the UK. Smooth and creamy, it is made with non-hydrogenated vegetable oil and is free from the controversial trans fats. Containing 15 per cent cocoa solids Cocodirect Instant Hot Chocolate is available in 1kg pillow packs and 23g sachets and is quick to prepare with just hot water.

Marco Beverage Systems, better known as a leading manufacturer of bulk brew coffee machines and water boilers, claims that its Ciocco chocolate dispenser adds choice to the hot beverage menu. Ciocco is a compact, quality, Italian-styled dispenser capable of accepting both powdered and liquid ingredients.

It's been a year since the government banned unhealthy snacks and beverages from schools, but how has the vending industry coped? One UK vending machine manufacturer has noticed a shift in the market.

Following recent success with its BevMax range of vending machines in schools throughout the UK, The Vending Corporation has added a dedicated Schools Vending section to its website. Since introduction of the education sector guidelines in September 2007, the company's BevMax range has been favoured by the secondary education sector for its simple, clear and reliable approach to vending.

Van Houten's Choco Less Sugar drink, which contains 50 per cent less sugar than traditional recipes, has been independently analysed and found to comply with the latest regulations for food in schools. Barry Callebaut, which developed the product, claims that vending operators can now supply the product to the education sector with confidence.

Major UK vending services provider Selecta is to become one of the sponsors for the Educational Infomat Campaign (EIC).

The human body is 70 per cent water and the average British body loses around 21¼2 litres of water per day. Whilst some of this loss is replaced by eating foods containing liquid, we all still need to drink up to 2 litres of liquid a day as all this water loss can affect brain function and when it comes to children, dehydration can affect levels of concentration in the classroom.

Formed in 2007 with the objective of identifying ongoing sustainable routes for the recovery and subsequent recycling of paper cups and similar products, The Paper Cup Recovery & Recycling Group is now talking about significant progress in recycling trials with paper mills.

RPC Tedeco-Gizeh UK has been chosen as sole supplier of disposable plastic vending cups to Associated Vending Services (AVS), a group of 26 independently owned professional vending businesses trading from 42 locations across the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Now in its third year, KioskCom Self Service Expo Europe has gone from strength to strength, quickly becoming an important European business portal for the latest in self-service and kiosk technology. For 2008, The Digital Signage Show Europe will run alongside the event for the first time, reflecting the growing synergy between these two technologies.

AstroSystems, the European division of currency validation specialist Astrosys International, continues to make successful inroads with the GBA ST1 bank note validator.

It is not surprising that many businesses in the UK are tightening their belts for a tough time over the next two years or so. Rising fuel costs are beginning to impact at all levels, not least for our customers. In such times it is not always easy to be optimistic or positive. One company that is looking on the bright side is Options Management from Newcastle-under-Lyme, which remains enthusiastic about opportunities that deliver real results, add value to its services while helping to retain existing and win new customers. Three years ago the company invested to add value to its services, uplift quality and value of vends and keep ahead of the market. Paul Ure, Managing Director, explains: