Vendex North returned to Old Trafford (home to none other than Manchester United) on 15th November, offering the perfect platform for vending manufacturers and suppliers in a variety of sectors. Vending International reports…
Vendex 2011 proved once again to be an exciting and successful show, with a good variety of sectors represented. Showcasing its ability to supply all parts to all vending industries, Abbeychart enjoyed good footfall throughout the day with Sales & Marketing Manager, Linzi Sahota-Moore, commenting; “Vendex allowed us to speak to a number of customers and potential new leads whilst also being able to follow up on some current projects. Basically, a good show!”
As a platform for the industry, Abbeychart was pleased with the reception to its new generation LEDs and the first tantalising glimpses of its new vending brochures and unique water cooler sanitizer, due for full launch in the New Year, caused quite a talking point.
Alistair Price, Managing Director, What Price Solutions was equally impressed: “We had a very positive Exhibition, with over forty enquiries across the range of the brands we represent. It was interesting that the common theme of questions from many visitors stemmed around ‘healthy , ethical , natural & vat free’, so most on our stand ticked these boxes – Go Ape, Suso, Thirsty Planet, Country Products and Maryland Cookies.” He added: “It would also be true to say that we had the greatest number of enquiries about espresso beans fromCoburg. The bean to cup market is clearly growing, as operators want to add value, quality and margin.”
Those that didn’t exhibit “missed an opportunity,” insisted Alistair, adding, “Vendex for me (and my clients) represents value for money and we will support it again.”
Another to comment on the fantastic response from buyers was Gary Scott, Crem International’s Sales Manager for the North: “Crem International had a great Vendex with lots of interest shown in our CQube, Elite and Cafelino range. Buyers commented on the flexibility of our systems and were impressed with the competitive package we offer. In particular the Café Elite attracted a lot of attention, being well priced and great looking; with superb build quality and flexibility on beverage options, buyers were keen for more information and follow up meetings. We will be busy in the next few weeks following up on the interest shown.”
On behalf of Sielaff, Karen Nash said: “Vendex 2011 was the perfect opportunity to showcase Sielaff’s innovative new equipment, scheduled for launch early in 2012. Aimed at the HoReCa market, the Piacere Touch took centre stage and was enthusiastically received both for its stylish design and high drink quality.
“We also featured The Combimat, a robotic, glass-fronted snack and drink vendor, which has evolved from our market leading Robimat. Overall a successful show.”
Aimia Foods was among several businesses that firmly concentrated on innovation at Vendex this year. Introducing the new Milfresh Silver, Martin Armit said it reflected, “The ever-growing demand for dairy and milk products as the market moves steadily away from non-dairy creamers.” Milfresh has been hugely successful for Aimia Foods; the company will announce prices for Milfresh Silver in January 2012. In another new development, Aimia has announced plans to supply some of its products in re-sealable pouch packs to reduce ingredient wastage and spoilage.
John Greasley of MEI was certain that the event had offered just the right kind of platform for the Group’s products: “Vendex North allowed MEI to continue the momentum of AVEX, demonstrating our new range of simple yet effective audit solutions: The CashFlow 8000 & Vending Audit Module (VAM).
“Both these products are equipped with a set of features that make the complexity of data collection and manual reconciliation a thing of the past. Equipped with Data Merge technology CF8000 or VAM they pull all available audit data into a single EVA/DTS formatted file for a stress free data collection. A USB port provides the cheapest audit collection tool and Bluetooth capability allows contactless audit collection providing a future proof solution.”
Visitors to the stand were also extremely interested in the future payment opportunities with the New ‘Wave & Pay’ Contactless Readers. This new method of payment is now entering the Retail Market and it’s also an ideal method of payment for Vending customers.
“Once again the Vendex Show proved to be a great success,” said John in summary.
In other developments, “Westomatic introduced two new innovative machines; the Sigma Touch and the Signature and our customers loved them,” said Charlotte Summersby.
The Sigma Touch takes vending to a new level with new generation interactive touch screen technology and delivers coffee shop quality drinks at the touch of a button with additional revenue possibilities from advertising.
The Signature, a further development of the successful Prelude range, has a modern, stylish visual selection menu making it even easier to use.
“Both machine ranges will be in production from January 2012,” revealedCharlotte.
Richard Gilbert, MD & Owner of Excalibur, a leading vending refurbisher was overwhelmingly positive in his response to the Show. “As a first time exhibitor, Vendex surpassed my expectations. The show was absolutely fantastic for Excalibur and we had some really high quality enquiries.
“The idea of having a machine 1/2 prior and 1/2 after refurbishment caused a lot of laughs and attention, yet managed to convey the relevant competence.
“We also had some great feedback on the prototype van safe and will further that design with some improvements before full launch.
“The timing of Vendex is perfect and it has given us the ideal platform to expand our refurbishing services,” he said.
Exhibiting new and existing products, Eleanor M. Bane of Safersystems offered her view of the show and again the results were good: “Vendex North proved an ideal opportunity to showcase our exciting new products: easy machine movement by a single operator from the tightest locations using Slide & Glide; key tracking with the new Audit Key; and the visual impact of the striking Café Chameleon. Also shown was the Vendon management software system,” she said.
Darren Bradford, UK Sales and Marketing Manager for Allpure Filters was pleased to report that working in partnership with Kevin James of KJS Consultancy had received positive feedback from new and existing customers to the joint Allpure Filters/ Acrokool and Incup plus stand. New Omnipure filter innovations and range expansions as well as the One Touch cup dispenser and machine install rail proved interesting. Acrokool’s wide range of products are ideal for Education said Darren. Their new stylish range of MTN and new Incup Plus products completed the lineup.
Speaking after the show, Kevin Reed of Siemens said: “We introduced our new online learning tool, SieSmart which is set to be launched in the new year. Vendex was the perfect opportunity to tell people about it and the response was really positive. Any enhancement is a good thing for customers – those already using easilease can upgrade for free, while new customers can use the SieSmart model straightaway. There was a lot of interest in the development from both new and existing customers, which is great.”
Show organiser Phil Reynolds said: “Despite a slightly lower number of exhibitors at this year’s Vendex – clearly a measure of the current economic climate we are in, the visitor levels were up showing an overall increase on last year with reports after the show from exhibitors stating that this has been the busiest and best Vendex to date. One Exhibitor sold all of the
machines displayed on his stand and there was a really good atmosphere around the exhibition floor. Vendex continues to grow in popularity and still represents the best cost-effective vending trade show for exhibitors, whilst visitors to the show welcome the free parking and the free hot lunch given to all attendees.
“As the show organisers we will continue to strive to offer a value-for-money event which is so relevant in these cost-conscious times for both exhibitors and visitors alike.
“Make a date for the next Vendex (South) taking place at Twickenham Stadium on May the 22nd.”
