Cevat Riza, Managing Director of Seymour Valentine, one of the UK's most successful privately-owned vending companies, has unveiled a re-branded and refurbished Fairgrounds Ethical Coffee House in Soho.

LIW, the largest show for the leisure industry, is introducing 21 initiatives this year to celebrate its 21st birthday.

The Fairtrade Foundation has appointed Mike Gidney to the role of Deputy Executive Director in a move that will help the organisation deliver its ambitious objectives for 2012. These include increasing the impact Fairtrade is having on poverty, doubling the number of producers who benefit from Fairtrade and reaching £2bn in annual sales in the UK.

Coca-Cola Enterprises sets a target to reduce its carbon footprint by 15% by 2020 as part of its ‘Commitment 2020' program.

In the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority rules that Scandinavian dairy cooperative Arla Foods can continue advertising its lactose-free milk after it rejected a claim that the advert was misleading.

Lavazza, Italy's favourite coffee, has partnered up with Slow Food UK to support the growing interest and awareness of the Slow Food movement in the UK. The partnership underpins Lavazza's affinity with the world of gastronomy and culinary innovation, coupled with its interest in sustainable and quality produce.

Marco Beverage Systems, one of Europe's leading designers and manufacturers of filter coffee making equipment and water boilers, has made its products available on CaterQuotes software.

A new fast and economical installation and maintenance service for the vending and beverage industries covering the entire UK mainland has been announced by filter specialist Pelican Technical Services.

Aluminium cans are now being used to sell mobile phone SIM cards from vending machines in the Ukraine thanks to Rexam's innovative technology. The move is designed to appeal to a younger audience who are looking for a quick and convenient sales platform.

The unique partnership between bottled water brand Thirsty Planet and the charity Pump Aid has earned them a coveted place on the shortlist of the Third Sector Excellence Awards. The awards recognise outstanding work by registered charities, not-for-profits, social enterprises and campaigning groups.

The TUCO exhibition is the annual conference of the University Caterer's organisation, and is regularly well attended by caterers, chefs and those in charge of catering options for universities across the UK. The event showcases foodservice and vending products, previews new launches, and gives visitors a chance to speak directly to the experts. This year's event at the University of Birmingham was attended by Vending Operator Seymour Valentine in collaboration with Lavazza, Italy's favourite coffee. 

Grolsch has introduced the new ‘Cool meter' on their cans in the Netherlands, using a recently developed Thermochromic ink. This temperature sensitive ink, which has been developed in partnership with Rexam, indicates when the beer inside is cold enough to drink. The ink, which begins to change colour at 11°C, turns blue when the beer has reached the ideal drinking temperature (between 6° - 8° C). The new ‘Cool meter' will be available on all Grolsch 330ml cans in the Netherlands from this summer on.

Creating more moments of pleasure, Cadbury is thrilled to announce that Trebor, the UK's leading mint brand, is now extending its offering into the gum category with the introduction of Trebor Extra Strong Gum. In addition to the launch, Trebor has also re-designed the UK's number one selling mint range, Trebor Extra Strong Mints and Trebor Softmints with a strong, bold, contemporary new design.

H2O International UK has been established as the sole UK distributor of a water filtration/ purification system at the heart of a range of water filtering products for commercial and domestic use with a pedigree of proven success in the USA and South Africa over the past 20 years.

The Kenco Coffee Company now offer a fantastic total solution to serving hot drinks on-the-go with the introduction of the new Kenco FreshSeal 2Go. The simple to operate hot drinks system works in conjunction with Kenco FreshSeal products and makes it possible to serve great quality branded hot drinks even in the most operationally challenged environments!

In the current economic climate we are all looking at ways to reduce outgoings and increase efficiencies. Responding to the drive to cut costs, GiroVend are pleased to announce the launch of their HOSTED cashless payment solution, the simplest and most cost effective way to introduce a cashless solution into your organisation.

Huhtamaki is proud to be a founding member of The Paper Cup Recovery & Recycling Group, which, following successful trials at several mills around the UK, is now able to recycle paper cups - including those manufactured by Huhtamaki!

The launch is supported by a massive £7 million media campaign including TV and outdoor advertising, digital, sampling and PR; all strategically designed to target a 16-34 year old audience, to drive awareness and trial and increase category growth. The campaign even includes a 4-week presence on the BFI IMAX in London. In addition, Nestlé Professional® has produced a range of stand-out POS material to help maximise impulse sales and drive revenues within the Out of Home sector.

Huhtamaki is proud to be a founding member of The Paper Cup Recovery & Recycling Group, which, following successful trials at several mills around the UK, is now able to recycle paper cups - including those manufactured by Huhtamaki!

Nebrak is one of the latest group of successful companies to join a leading edge scheme, designed to help industry improve its safety record.

When Londoners discovered it in the 1700s, chocolate houses became, if you will excuse the pun, trendy little hot spots. According to online resource about.com, it was the English who first started adding milk to their chocolate when enjoying it as an after-dinner beverage. Interestingly, chocolate as a drinkable form even preceded the chocolate bar. Milk chocolate as we know and snack on it now, was invented in 1876 and quickly became more popular as a solid treat, than the drink it started from.

The Chocolino is a small, compact and easy to handle chocolate machine with a high capacity of 160 cups per hour, 1 ingredient canister gives two different choices of chocolate drink, small and large. It has automatic water filling and an easy cleaning programme. With dimensions of 460cm height, 180cm width and 450cm depth it will fit on the smallest of surfaces making it an ideal vending solution for the retail environment.

As one of the leading brands of Mars Drinks and a division of Mars Inc., KLIX has a strong heritage in providing great tasting quality products and drinks to workplaces, leisure facilities and other public areas throughout the world. And with over 30 years of experience KLIX is established as the UK's number one in-cup drinks vending solution.

In this day and age schools are essentially businesses, and like all businesses resource management and keeping costs down is a key priority. Vending machines offer schools an alternative to costly run canteens, normally allowing them to limit service to the lunch break.

Sunland have been making pure juices for over 25 years; supplying to over 30 countries around the world. The company pride themselves on manufacturing good quality, great tasting pure juices that contain only fruit juice and nothing else.

Vending machine technology has come on in leaps and bounds. Yesterday's manually mechanically operated dispenser although tactile and earthy in nature and feel has been replaced by aesthetically sophisticated easy to use push-button friendly microprocessor controlled wonderment. We are now at a stage where current day vending machinery has as much an entertainment and novelty factor as the very first machines had way back in the day.

VI: When were you established and what level of experience can you provide?

SS: We were established in January 2009 and have 50 years combined experience - 15 years from me, 35 from my sales director Steve Luckhurst!

VI: How long have you been in the industry and what changes have you seen in that time?

PH: I have been in the vending industry for nearly 20 years, involved with the development of cashless payment systems and the use of touch screen technology to enhance the consumer experience at the point of vend. The changes I have seen include the general acceptance by the industry of the need to change from an "earlier machine technology" to networked PC vending technology.

Following a high profile launch back in October last year, PoP, the interactive vending machine for the 21st Century, now has a presence all over the UK, giving entertainment consumers more choice and the opportunity to purchase day or night.

Eu'Vend, the International Trade Fair for the Vending Industry will take place for the fourth time from 10th to 12th September 2009 in Cologne. Since its premiere in 2003, the event has established itself as one of the market's leading international vending trade fairs.