Back in the saddle!

Hi lovely vending people

Well, what can we say?  Procrastination is indeed the thief of time and since the flurry, excitement and overall thrill of AVEX 2013, we have been remiss!  However, we're back in the saddle with news, stories and opinions about the wacky world of vending.  So, where to start?

Mmm, healthy vending.  This one will, as they say, run and run.  You know we're passionate about being healthy, living well and doing all that in the context of vending.  As such, it's been great to be asked back to support the AVA as they run the second year of their collaboration with UCB final year BA Culinary Arts students.  Just a quick recap if you're new to this topic.

In 2012, the AVA took the bold step of challenging the final year students to create products that can be both sold through the vending channel and are "healthy".  Since there's no agreed definition (anywhere) on what is healthy, they interpreted that in a number of ways, delivering ground-breaking, innovative and great tasting foods for different vending locations.  Well, so successful was the activity, that we are again challenging the students.  This year, however, we have set a calorie challenge!  We have asked them to aim for 250 to 300KCal for the product; that's about as tight as the specification gets.

Lots of industry experts have been on hand in the first few weeks to initiate the "Year of 2014" to the arts and crafts of vending.  A real honour and privilege to work with young chefs of tomorrow.  This week, they presented their concepts to an expert group of which I was a part - fantastic fun!  Without giving the game away, here are some headlines for me:

6 groups will present 6 unique branded, lower calorie vending products.  Awaiting the judging panel will be products that combine:

• Sensory sensations 
• Visual interest 
• Appetising aromas
• Sweet and savoury products many of which are allergen friendly or "free from"
• Fresh innovative combinations of flavours and ingredients 
• A range of  textures 
• Exciting earth-friendly packaging
• Social, Digital and Mobile brands that will engage their demographic and location

You see, I really don't want to steal their thunder and, as they hunker down in the test kitchens for the remainder of this academic term, they need to be able to perfect and develop their products for the judging panel.  I know it's a bit cheeky as I've had a sneak preview but trust me, it will be worth tuning in early in 2014 when the final products, brands and results will be known.

Get in touch and let us know what you think

Great to be on the bike again!

The Friendly Vending Geeks, Gillian & Neil at 24vend

Another day, another report?

Another day.  Another report on the state of the UK’s health.  The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, which represents nearly ever doctor in the UK, has deemed ballooning waistlines a “huge crisis” and made a number of recommendations to drive lifestyle changes that they believe will undo the current state of affairs. Amongst their recommendations is the old chestnut close to the heart of anyone in the vending industry; a ban on vending machines in hospitals.

Let me say, straight up, that there is no denial about the situation.  26% of the adult population of the UK categorised as obese* (based on BMI**) is not good news.  But bans on vending machines?  Really?  And what of the retail outlets in the same hospitals – ban those too?   

Of course hospitals should be places of health, wellbeing and education to support all of us in a healthy lifestyle.  However, removing a few vending machines could be seen as merely window “undressing”.  There it was, gone!  Actually, would it not be better to stock machines with different products and support people through education? 

Interestingly, 24vend were involved in some research where sales from vending machines located in a busy city NHS hospital were tracked (via a telemetry system) over a period of a month.  No surprise that the peak of sales occurred consistently at 8pm and 2am when all other forms of refreshment were probably unmanned or unavailable.  Convenience is at the heart of vending and those who were hungry at 8pm and 2am (I would take an educated guess) were not unwell patients being mended and made better, but the amazing NHS staff who were working long and arduous shifts at anti-social hours.  Remove vending and then what?

The report goes some way to parallel the food environment with that of tobacco.  Whilst, we’re here to think about vending, I would just make the comment that whilst you don’t need to smoke; you do need to eat and drink.    That’s why the staff in the hospital were buying things in the dark hours of the night; they were working and needed refreshment!

So, our message today is that we know too many people in the UK are not as healthy as they ought to be and that things need to change.  However, banning without intelligent conversation on how things could be different is missing a massive opportunity.  There is huge good work going on in the global vending community supporting people on their journey to better lifestyles.  If any of you are thinking of attending AVEX this year, there will be an entire day dedicated to the topic of health and wellbeing; save the date - June 12th 2013, NEC Hall 3. Birmingham. A day that was planned a long time before this report came to light!  Get in touch if you want to know more.

So, let’s not be lazy and just ban things we think aren’t right; let’s enter into good old thrust and parry, intelligent debate and drive change.  We love to talk vending, health and innovation!

So, on that note, I’m off to the gym!

*OECD statistics 2012

**BMI is a calculation of weight/height ratio 

Nothing more certain...

Than death, or taxes... or so the saying goes.

Today, in the UK at least, there is news in some way related to both and here we go again if you like.  The idea of taxing products that are believed to contribute to the ever burgeoning problem of Obesity.

It's tricky...

It's also very complicated to unravel the environmental, behavioural and situational factors that cause human beings to be larger than might otherwise be good for them.  In its complexity comes the desire to create simple solutions that can, if you'll excuse the metaphor, lead the horse to water ie help people to lead healthier lifestyles.

We're not for a moment going to add any theories to that debate, save to say, that taxation may or may not work.  Denmark looked at a "fat tax", brought it on to the statute books and then gave it up.  Hungary has a similar taxation scheme (on high fat, sugar and salt products), which they seem to have implemented to be workable.

Bravo if the tax that is paid can be used to educate, inform and provide; Educate consumers of all ages on the ways to lead a healthy lifestyle, including cooking and shopping skills to "make from scratch".
Inform consumers of the reality of their choices; just because a product contains fruit or vegetables doesn't always guarantee it's nutritional "cleanliness" - the ability to look beyond the obvious, particularly in small font on the back of a packet, is tricky, nay almost impossible to the untrained observer
Providing good school meals (that children will eat!), enabling access to well priced and high quality produce isn't as easy as it sounds.  Without the foundation of education and information, it could all be for nought.  Oh, and let's not forget the thorny issue of Olympic Legacy.  As someone who gave so much time to volunteer at London 2012, it is disheartening to continue to read of the poor provision of sport, competitive or not, at many of the UK's schools.

Well, to avoid further political debate, let's see what all this means for vending...

If there is a tax on certain products that are popular, there are choices; increase the price to the consumer and take the business impact; certainly that is possible, if not palatable.  Alternatively, is it time to look to offer the consumer more choice?  For vending, as a channel, to do its bit to help consumers on their route to a healthier lifestyle? Man cannot live by bread alone, so a broader selection of products may just be what the doctor ordered.

If you're interested at all in looking beyond the obvious current menus you offer, then perhaps our conference "Being Healthy 13" should be in your diary.  Taking place on June 12th from 10:30 to 12:30 at NEC, we hope to see lots of you taking part in the conversation.  We will be taking bookings for the conference from late February 2013 and will, of course, keep you posted.

Definitely a topic for #talkTuesday, so let us know what you're thinking

Stay well, stay healthy

The Friendly Vending Geeks
Gillian & Neil

More from Belgium - Chocolate, not Brussels!

Hello!

A chilly start to the day here in the highest point on the railway main line from Southampton to London!  It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas as Jack Frost definitely nipped at the toes this morning.  So, enough of that lyrical waxing.  Chocolate!

Chocolate - 24vend is very open about our love for Chocolate and if you're a regular reader of our blog, you'll know that we have written regularly about this ancient and much-loved food stuff.  In fact, we are really hoping to see the Chocolate train in Brussels later this week.  Watch this space, as they say.

Chocolate - we were delighted to feature a really new and exciting, scientifically proven to be good for you, product at our recent "Being Healthy" conference.  For those who were busy vending elsewhere, here is some information from the fab team at "ohso" - may it whet your appetite and curiosity!

All of which goes to show that Belgium is famous for more than just Brussels!

Enjoy your day - the Friendly Vending Geeks!

  

PROBIOTIC CHOCOLATE BARS ENTER THE UK VENDING MARKET

ohso, the must-have healthy Belgian chocolate

 Ohso Chocolate, which is made from 53% delicious Belgian chocolate and is clinically proven* to be three times more effective at delivering your daily probiotics than a yoghurt drink, will be on sales in vending machines across the UK from next month.

Ohso will be the first probiotic chocolate to be available via vending machines in the UK and will be bought in packs of three available in both flavours, original and orange.

At just 72kcals per bar, ohso, the guilt free chocolate bar that loves your tummy, was launched to the UK market at the beginning of the year via Harvey Nichols Foodhalls. The product has seen rapid growth and has since gained listings in Tesco-owned Nutricentres and Ocado, as the shelves of many nationwide independent retailers.  

 “We are very excited to be entering the vending market”, says Andrew Marten, founder of ohso and director of Goodnesse, the company behind the brand. “Ohso is a perfect fit for vending machines. With no-added dairy, gluten and wheat and nut free, it’s a great healthy chocolate alternative. Each individually wrapped bar is designed to provide consumers with the optimum daily amount of probiotic to help support their digestive health, restoring the bacterial flora of good bacteria in the gut to help improve immunity and overall health and wellbeing.” 

ohso is also available to buy online at www.ohsolovesyourtummy.com

Note (and all the technical scientific stuff you require)

Recent figures show Britons have an insatiable appetite for ‘functional foods’ which have health benefits beyond basic nutrition and annual sales of such products are set to hit £915m by 2015 according to Mintel.

*Based on the survival rates of probiotics passing through the stomach to the small intestine, it was found that the survival rates in the probiotic yoghurt matrix were three times lower than in chocolate.  Source: Ghent University, Belgium

You'd be nuts not to read this!

Nuts!  Those of a certain age will remember the classic advert and whilst not a big fan of TV advertising, it's one of those golden oldies (a little like Smash!).

Anyway, we're not here to wax lyrical about mahoosive advertising budgets and times gone by.  We're definitely right here, right now and Fat Boy Slim is always on our playlist!

Nuts

Certainly, if you are allergic to them, life can be very tricky.  Sorry about that.  If, however, you are able to eat them, why not eat more of them..  here are a few nutty facts (strange, but true)...

Cholesterol - we all need some and many of us have too much.  Briefly, there are two types of cholesterol; LDL ("bad") and HDL ("good").  There is research to suggest that there is a relationship between eating more raw (unprocessed) nuts and a reduction in the levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol.  One report showed those eating around 70g/day reduced their LDL ("bad") levels by 9.4%.  Pretty impressive (references below, OK).

Fibre - if you want a healthy digestive system and everything that goes with it (sparing you the details!), you'll need to be eating plenty of fibre.  Well, once again, raw nuts (unprocessed) are pretty nifty in this area too.  Another great thing about fibre rich foods is that they increase the feeling of fullness and satiety as well as stabilising blood sugar levels.  What's not to love?

Anyway, this is a blog about all things vending (as well as the occasional opinion!) and 24vend is delighted to be able to offer you a machine that can vend nuts really niftily.  Going great guns in the Netherlands and shown in a megascreen cinema complex not far from Amsterdam, maybe you can add it to your portfolio?

Get in touch if you want to know more about nuts or even nut vending machines

Virtually Yours in Vending

Gillian & Neil

(reference:  Jenkins DJA et al  Dose response of almonds on coronary heart disease risk factors; blood lipids, oxidised low-density lipoproteins, lipoproteins(a), homcysteine and pulmonary nitric oxide; a randomised, controlled, crossover trial.  2002 106(11):1327-84)

The times, they are a changin'

Hello!

The times they certainly are "a changin'" and not just as Bob Dylan predicted.  Health is now making headways in the vending vernacular and that's  a good thing, isn't it?

If you haven't already booked your place for Monday's Being Healthy conference in Manchester, there is still time.  You have to be in it to win it and we're a friendly bunch, so why not?  Not curious enough to be part of the conversation?  Too set in your ways to think that you might learn something - tut, tut!  Never too old and never too curious!

It was really great to hear about Gem Vending using QR codes to provide nutritional information to vending consumers - top marks to them for embracing both technology and the consumer.  Nice work!  If you haven't read all about it, head over to Planet Vending and get yourselves in the know

Of course, you'll be very welcome on the day if your plans change!

Get in touch if you want to know how we can help you jog along the journey of health; at least one of us is a REPs qualified fitness instructor so we can grow your vending business and get you fit on the inside at the same time.  Not many in the vending industry that can toot that particular trumpet!!

Any road up!  See you next week at Being Healthy or Vendex

The times, they are a changin'

The Friendly Vending Geeks
Gillian & Neil
24vend

Oranges and Lemons (even though you were promised Apples!)

I know, I know...  nothing for years then 2 blogs in one day!  What can I say?

Whilst this a vending blog, it's a little fruity for a Friday.  Below is the lovely amazing Apple Vending machine (c1930s); no more Steve Jobs than Isaac Newton but it serves a purpose for the next few minutes.

The subject of health and wellbeing is discussed at length every day online and in the real world;  We want to focus on the world of opportunity that health and wellbeing present for vending.  Vending has had its fair share of opposition over the years with bans and restrictions in various guises across many geographies.  Vending trade associations have positioned vending as part of the solution and nothing changes there.  Let's be honest, vending machines are shops and they sell what sells.  Nobody is made to purchase from a vending machine; they just stand their, minding their own business, doing what they do.  The Apple machine below was doing that - just selling you apples.

"Well", I hear you cry, "what's your point?"

My point is that enabling consumer choice, supporting healthy lifestyles and following trends has to be at the core of any vending business.  The vending industry hasn't invested millions in making fantastic cappuccino just because it was fed up of sitting on the beach.  The consumer wanted it and we responded.  Great news and superb innovation.  Extend that thinking to the choices available in a snack machine and perhaps we will start to see a broader range of products for sale?  Sure, some may not like that affordable indulgences such as crisps (chips to my transatlantic friends), chocolate and cherry fizz will still be on sale, but small changes are probably a better way forward to encouraging people to make lifelong changes to their consumption patterns.

Which brings us back to vending apples!  24vend is hosting a conference "Being Healthy" on 12th November at the amazing Imperial War Museum North (Manchester) where we will hear from Vending Operators who are making "healthy" vending work, manufacturers offering new products for sampling and a Workplace expert on how vending fits into driving productivity.  You really should be part of the conversation if you want to get with a trend that doesn't look like it will be going away anytime soon.  Get in touch and be there!

Whatever you're doing, stay well and healthy

The Friendly Vending Geeks @24vend