The current craze in the Industry and one that has borne a variety of improved ingredients for vending is hot chocolate - especially the luxury varieties - driven by women and younger consumers.

Milk whiteners, toppings and syrups, meanwhile, all add to the consumer experience. Facilities Managers must have a keen awareness of the market and know what their customers want, to be sure of supplying the perfect drink every time.

Neil Stephens, Managing Director, Nestlé Professional looks at the various market drivers: “The UK has become a nation of coffee-lovers and, as the market ‘matures’ it opens up a range of new and exciting trends for operators. To know what the next big thing will be, we need to look at the market trends. The UK is close to Europe, yet aligned to the US as far as taste and style trends are concerned, which means influence could come from many directions.

“One of the most significant trends over the last year has been the value trend; this has of course been open to interpretation. There are effectively two ways of looking at value, more for the same OR better quality for the same.

“The two big global trends of the moment are ‘premiumisation’ and convenience. With over half (53%) of consumers surveyed purchasing take-away coffee from coffee shops it’s important to provide a ‘grab and go’ offer but one that delivers a good coffee experience.”

Carey Benn, Head of Education Vending, Autobar UK agrees with Nestle that the demand for premium ingredients is strong and growing: “The ingredients used in the vending market have continued to track the general retail market trends, where consumers are spending more on high quality, fresh and niche lines than ever before.

“The trends for vending - as seen at Autobar – can be summarized by four key elements: Healthy; Sustainable/Ethical; High Quality and Best Sellers.

“Healthy: Since 1997 when chocolate, crisps and chocolate were banned in schools the vending market has been adapting and changing. There are now over 200 products that meet the Schools Food Trust Guidelines for government funded schools, and the Independent schools have generally followed suit with a middle path of choosing some healthy lines, and some lines which are considered ‘healthier’. Business sites, Hospitals and Leisure trusts are all now insisting on a combination of traditional vending lines, and healthy choices.

“Sustainable/Ethical: Fairtrade grew by a staggering 43% in 1998, and the categories of fair-trade vending ingredients now include coffee, tea, hot chocolate, chocolate, sugar, cereal bars, flapjacks, cookies and more. The major manufacturers are now on board with Mars and Kenco choosing Rainforest Alliance, and Cadbury and Nestle Fairtrade status.

“Quality: Coffee sales have increased greatly over the past few years with fair-trade and premium brands leading this growth, and with over 20 million Brits per year drinking High St Coffee every week. With the advent of continental drinks, £3 Fairtrade lattes, and compound year on year growth Starbucks, Costa Coffee and others have seen outstanding success stories over the last decade. In vending, the movement from clients and consumers is to better quality coffee and higher price points. Instead of a 7oz plastic cup of instant coffee for 20p, many public locations are now offering a 12oz, waxed paper cup of fair-trade bean to cup coffee with real milk ingredients for over £1.

“Best Sellers: Despite the three trends above, the majority of vending ingredient sales is still within traditional areas. In hot drinks, the major brands still command over 80% of the total market, led by PG Tips, Kenco, Nestle, Cadbury Highlights and others. In snacks and cold drinks over 90% of the product sales are still from traditional vending products that consumers choose despite being presented with healthier alternatives.”

The trend for ethically sourced ingredients

Susan Nash, Trade Communications Manager, Kenco discusses the trend for ethical ingredients: “Away from home, 83% of consumers say that quality is important when buying a hot drink but increasingly, serving a sustainably farmed offer is also important to consumers. In 2008 independent research commissioned by Kenco identified that 56% of consumers considered that an outlet which offers sustainably or ethically sourced hot beverages created a positive impression on them. Just a year later, this figure had risen to 65%.

“Kenco now provides you and your customers with the choice of ethically sourced products without any compromise on quality. Our parent company, Kraft Foods, has been working in the area of sustainability for over 15 years and our work with the Rainforest Alliance is part of this initiative.”

Susan also commented Cadbury’s recent decision to use only Fairtrade ingredients: “The entire Cadbury hot beverages range in the UK and Ireland is now Fairtrade. This is in addition to Cadbury Dairy Milk which has been Fairtrade in the UK and Ireland since July 2009.

“The Fairtrade announcement last year marked the first anniversary of the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership (CCP), a historic initiative in which Cadbury is investing £45 million over the next ten years to secure the sustainable socio-economic future of cocoa farming in Ghana, India, Indonesia and the Caribbean where the cocoa farming industry is facing increasing challenges.”

Aimia Foods, the independent ingredients specialist, says that it remains more focused than ever on Fair & Ethical ranges, following a decision to split from Percol in October.

Martin Armitt, Marketing Controller commented: “We have had an excellent relationship with Percol for several years however, we are seeking to grow our share of Fair & Ethical Coffee, Hot Chocolate and Tea, the latter in partnership with PG Tips. We have studied what the market needs and believe we can best meet those needs with our own brand range of Fair & Ethical, Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance products.

“Moving to our own brand range means we can extend choice and ensure we are never knowingly undersold. The market for Fairtrade & Fair & Ethical products continues to grow at over 20 per cent per annum. It is very competitive in price terms but actually quite static in terms of new innovation. Our plans centre on the development of both price fighting and innovative new product lines, such as our Café Nueva Double Certified (Fairtrade-Organic) and Triple Certified (Fairtrade-Rainforest Alliance-Organic) coffees.

“We are moving into an era when fair and ethical is the norm – that means it’s time for us to develop our own, value added, price competitive strategy. In line with this, we are currently running a promotion on our Fairtrade and Ethical ranges, as part of which customers who buy one pallet of products will receive an iPod Touch, and customers who buy three pallets will receive a 16gb iPad. The offer is available on orders delivered before 30th November.”

The days of muddy looking coffee and grey tea in drab, half filled cups are long gone. Vending machine technology and the quality of ingredients put in them have improved to such an extent that the consumer can now enjoy coffee shop quality at a fraction of the price in any location, at any time.

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