Barry Callebaut, the world's leading manufacturer of high-quality cocoa and chocolate products, signed an agreement with MISP Holding to acquire 100% of the shares of its subsidiary Eurogran A/S, with immediate effect. The acquisition of Eurogran underscores Barry Callebaut's strategic intention to further strengthen its position in the European chocolate and cappuccino vending mix business and to participate in the consolidation of this market.

The first snapshot of how the automatic vending market is changing as a result of the UK economic slowdown has just been released by industry analysts Plimsoll Publishing.

Liverpool City Council's decision to stock Thirsty Planet bottled water in vending machines in all of its 15 leisure centres has benefited 20 rural communities in Malawi and Zimbabwe which now have a constant supply of clean and disease-free water for the first time.

UK drinks firm Nichols announces positive results for Q1 2009, driven by strong sales of core brand Vimto, up 11.8%.

We all know by now that consuming fruit and vegetables every day is vital in preventing disease and fatal illness. And it's easier than it sounds to make up this quota. A piece of fruit after each meal or as a snack, and vegetables with both lunch and dinner, and you're nearly there. But don't forget the simple snacks too. California Raisins are a great way to add an extra portion to your diet, and they contain all the healthy goodness that fruits are famous for.

Proctor & Gamble will have to pay a tax bill of £100m for past VAT, plus a further £20m a year, after judges ruled that its Pringles snack contains "enough potato content".

Aimia Foods has acquired Spring Cool Soft Drinks from Norbev, the Northern Ireland-based soft drinks, packaged water and juice producer. The Spring Cool Soft Drinks business with a £3 million turnover sells products such as Spring Cool Irish Spring Water, Spring Clear 105, and Spring Cool X-ite - all of which will be integrated into Aimia Foods' portfolio with immediate effect.

Vendia announced record sales growth of over 5% - beating the Group's trading budget by 2% - with profit levels reaching a five-year high during 2008 and also achieved industry recognition in 2008 with its Café Joe range of Fairtrade hot beverages being nominated as a finalist in the industry's Brand Innovation Awards.  

The European Vending Association announced its new alliance with the European Point-of-use Drinking Water Association (EPDWA) on June 11. The cooperation will benefit both Associations, being both complementary in their activities.

Motivated employees are key to a successful business, especially in the current economic climate. Research carried out by Mars Drinks highlights the need to maintain core benefits to keep employee morale high and at the peak of their abilities.

The Rainforest Alliance, an international non-profit conservation organisation, announces its 2009 honourees at its annual gala on 6 May at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Sustainability commitments from global businesses continue to grow despite the current economic recession, helping to further on-the-ground conservation efforts. The annual gala recognises companies and individuals - which includes UK tea favourite, Lipton - for their work with the Rainforest Alliance on making sustainable supply chain decisions or for their long-time support of conservation work. 

Nestlé Professional® UK, part of Nestlé® SA - the world's largest food and Drink Company has further strengthened its presence in the leisure sector with the announcement of its collaboration with one of the biggest and most exciting brands in the business - Merlin Entertainments Group. Nestlé Professional® will be enhancing its relationship with Merlin through its Yorkie® sponsorship of Stealth at THORPE PARK.

Independent service maintenance providers for all types of vending equipment, Technical Vending Services was founded by Brian Savage, a name known by many in the industry. Brian began as a young lad working with companies such as DAG & Banbury Drinks as a sales and technical rep and has never really wandered out of the Vending trade; over the years meeting many people who have themselves developed independent businesses in the Vending industry today.

Harrogate Spa Water, Britain's original spa water, has signed a deal to become the official water supplier to two major golf tournaments for the next two years.

Marco Beverage Systems has announced the appointment of Daniel Versey to the post of National Accounts Manager in the UK.

Thousands of farmers from Latin America to Africa will benefit as a coffee company passionate about quality and an international conservation organisation dedicated to protecting biodiversity launch a new phase of collaboration. The Rainforest Alliance and Nestlé Nespresso have signed a pact called "Ecolaboration". One of the shared goals is to reduce the environmental impacts and increase the social benefits of coffee cultivation in enough tropical regions so that 80% of Nespresso's coffee comes from Rainforest Alliance Certified^TM farms by the year 2013.

Café Bar recognises the need build on its commitment to brands and organisations supporting the developing world. With many suppliers working in partnership with recognisable organisations who support the needs of underprivileged farmers and producers - it is easier than ever to make conscientious buying decisions when selecting a product or supplier.

Vivreau continues its overseas expansion with the launch of its Swiss  and Canadian operations. The moves follow the recent successful establishment of Vivreau USA.

The British vending market has not managed to avoid the ethical hand guiding market trends. In the last ten years consumers have become increasingly aware of and concerned about green issues. Customers want to know that what they are purchasing is healthy, ethically produced and delivered to them with minimum impact on the environment - albeit at a low price.

When it comes to office appliances, water coolers have developed a poor reputation in recent years for having a negative environmental impact. However, the emergence of more innovative water cooler products now offers a more energy efficient option to providing a fresh supply of chilled and hot water in the office, plus, the right water cooler can even save your company energy and money when compared to other appliances such as kettles.

Come rain or shine when on the run, tired, looking for comfort or reading the Sunday papers, the one thing we can all rely on is a good cup of tea to make us feel warm, refreshed and revived.

As part of the Autobar group, Café Bar is the leading beverage solution provider in the UK, serving 5 million drinks every working day.

They pride themselves on tailoring their hot beverage solutions to suit every individual businesses' needs by supplying both superior equipment and working closely with market leading brand partners.

Specialising in leasing solutions for professional equipment in a range of sectors, BNP Paribas Lease Group offers flexible and long term leases - vital financial support designed to help your business thrive. Said to be the most comprehensive offer on the market by type of asset, it works directly with companies and professionals, or through its manufacturer, distributor and software partners.

For the last few years, business analysts in various quarters have waxed lyrical about the ‘death' of the UK trade show, so I was pleasantly surprised to find Avex 2009 alive and well, with exhibitors and visitors actively engaged in sealing deals and snapping up ideas. "Moving the show from London to Birmingham, reducing it to two days and attracting an exciting mix of exhibitors certainly made the difference - there was a buzz from the minute it opened and visitors poured in to see the best that vending and water had to offer," said a spokesperson. A record number of visitors meant hundreds of leads and orders were taken at the show, making the the cost of attending worth its weight in gold.

Seaga UK, in association with Very Italia SRL and EWExport, used the AVEX show to introduce the exciting new concept of frozen pasta to the UK & International vending market. Having developed its proven frozen food vendor, the VC1100, to accommodate frozen pasta pots from Very Italia, Seaga UK undertook an extensive taste test at the show.

At the recent AVEX 09 in the NEC Birmingham, ETNA introduced its new NOVA fresh brew machine range.

Available with a paper and a paperless brewing system, the design is best described as ‘state of the art' with a stainless steel door and the option of having a unique LCD display for branding and marketing opportunities. The selection panel is operated through raised hard-keys with led backlighting.

Abbeychart has received much praise for its successful innovative stand and products on show at AVEX.  Amongst many important enquiries, their anti-Swine Flu hand gel caught the attention of Automatic Retailing Ltd who were so impressed they invited Abbeychart to join them at Business Scotland, held in Glasgow on June 23-24 to show their hand gel to beat the virus. The forum was attended by many top industry names and government bodies.

There was no shortage of visitors attracted by hot, freshly prepared food on the Jofemar UK stand at the recent Avex exhibition. Visitors queued to taste ready prepared ambient meals served piping hot from the Company's new Gourmet merchandiser, manufactured by parent company, Jofemar SA, in Spain. Meals were supplied by Pro-Pak Foods and the Gourmet merchandiser looked smart in the livery of ‘Fed Well', a brand name used by Pro-Pak Foods to supply ready meals to some of the UK's leading supermarkets.

Lavazza, Italy's favourite coffee, once again took AVEX by storm with a showcase of its extensive range of office coffee systems and vending solutions.

The most effective way of assessing the return on the cost of exhibiting at AVEX 2009 will be on actual business sales resulting from the investment of time, effort and money.

The Kenco stand highlighted the very latest initiatives with which Kraft Foods and Kenco brand have been involved, together with how existing initiatives are developing.

Uniware Systems is a leading provider of cashless payment, EPoS and vending solutions who work with many of the top contract caterers to provide systems that complement the catering service and help it run efficiently. With an impressive client list and an established reputation for the provision of high quality systems and support services, Uniware have helped hundreds of businesses realise that going cashless can cost less and save more than you think.

As health concerns continue to dominate the agenda despite the recession, more and more vending operators are switching to healthy options to follow consumer trends and deliver what customers want.

Nupik-Flo UK Ltd can only describe AVEX 2009 at the NEC Birmingham a success. As one of the largest manufacturers of vending and catering disposable plastic products in the European market today the Nupik-Flo stand attracted a wide variety of customers wishing to discuss and sample not just the fine wines, parmesan cheese and selected meats from Spain and Italy but the wide range of high quality products on show.

Westomatic Vending Services Ltd, a leading UK vending machine manufacturer, had a very successful AVEX, showcasing three winning new vending solutions at the show.

Calypso Soft Drinks has introduced a variety of new vending products at AVEX to boost its highly successful, award winning ‘school approved' drinks portfolio.