Choices in favour of the environment continue to be pursued with organic and health conscious products being strongly marketed now in the UK. Hot beverages constitute a significant part of vending products ‘under the microscope’ with growing attention to product origins and ingredients which are increasingly important to the consumer.
The Fairtrade organisation continues in its quest to promote a world-wide aim to consolidate mutually beneficial conditions for both the growers and end users. Changing attitudes towards this extremely broad based-subject has however proved to be a slow process with a continued ambivalence in the vending market towards such products that, as in the retail sector, do not have a majority or even equal share of the market.
Biodiversity, sustainable livelihoods, good land-use, good business practice and international attention by organisations now committed to the cause have all been well documented and discussed, so we will not re-examine these issues here.
Sustained endeavour into the future through such organisations, plus continued practical and imaginative marketing and product development will bring us to what many believe to be ultimate and lasting change in consumer perception and a consequential significant increase in the market share of such products.
Eurogran has a range of ingredients meeting such criteria, whether coffee, hot chocolate drinks or skimmed milk. As Eurogran was originated as a company from the Nordic markets, it brings with it the traditional strong focus on healthy and sustainable orientation to consumer demands in this field. An important factor in its increasing sales success is the strong message that there is never a compromise by them in quality and taste to meet these demands.
In the case of Eurogran products, the word ‘organic’ is virtually synonymous with the word ‘healthy’. Choco Organic is produced with cocoa beans that are obtained from wholly organic sources, but at the same time the end product is finally formulated using no chemicals, artificial flavours, colours or preservatives. This chocolate drink is also finely granulated to ensure excellent performance in vending machines.
Dark chocolate has recently had positive publicity in its connection with health.
Flavonal Antioxidants occur naturally in cocoa beans and these antioxidants are believed to help neutralize free radicals and protect the body against destructive effects. Le Royal Choco Dark has a minimum cocoa content of 27 per cent compared to 9 to 15 per cent in a regular hot chocolate product. Here, again, there is no compromise in taste and quality, the product maintaining a rich smooth taste with the right balance of taste, aroma and sweetness, while at the same time being of serious interest to those consumers with health in mind.
Eurogran’s carefully sourced Fairtrade products include Le Royal Fairtrade Freeze Dried Coffee and Le Royal Fairtrade Choco, both offering customers the opportunity to make an informed ethical choice.
An increasing interest in skimmed milk powder for vending use in the UK has been preceded by it’s sustained and effective use in Denmark and other Nordic markets for some time as a practical alternative as a whitener. Le Royal Granulated Skimmed Milk Powder combined with a good coffee gives a cappuccino or caffe latte the superior taste of fresh steamed milk.
A significant addition to the cause in Denmark has been the provision of machine decals or stickers declaring that the whitener in your drink is 100 per cent skimmed milk powder containing no more than 1 per cent fat, around 25 calories per serving, to inform customers about the healthiness of the product. This facility can be made available in the UK and other markets.
Eurogran’s vision and the products associated with it have been made now more accessible in the UK by the creation of Eurogran UK.
All the company’s products in the healthy and organic category are available through its St. Helens factory, including some additional ones like Le Royal Low Fat Topping, Choco Low Lactose and Chocolite.
http://www.eurogran.com/
