Eco-Friendly Customers and Coffee

Coffee Vending MachineVending.com has learned that what makes a cup of coffee delicious might depend on more than just the beans used and the coffee and hot beverage vending machine it’s made in. According to an article by the Los Angeles Times, a research team ran an experiment in which participants were presented two cups of coffee, one that was “eco-friendly” and one that was just a regular cup of coffee. What the participants did not know was that both cups of coffee were made from the same beans and in the same standard coffee maker.

While the phrase “eco-friendly vending machine” might not make all coffee consumers crave more environmentally conscious coffee, participants were also surveyed on various issues before the study and the results showed that the majority of participants that were concerned about the environment preferred the eco-friendly brew. Those same participants were also willing to pay about 25 percent more for a coffee they believed shared their views on the environment.

When it comes to coffee or drink vending machines, you might not need to change your product offering to continue to be successful, but this is a good example of how knowing your customers and what their preferences are can help your vending machines, eco-friendly or otherwise, become even more profitable.

Energy Drink Vending Machine Selections

Energy drinks are a very popular item in convenience stores, vending machines and grocery stores. Vending.com has seen the demand for energy drink vending selections explode over the last few years as more and more brands entered the market.

Currently, the major players in the energy drink game are Red Bull, Monster and Rockstar. While Red Bull claims the largest portion of the market with a 42% share, Monster has experience a lot of growth of the last few years and is now a close second with 37% of the market share. Rockstar rounds out the top three with 11% of the market share. While a distant third from the two industry leaders, Rockstar has more than double the share of remaining brands such as Amp, NOS and Full Throttle, all with 4% or less market share, according to a seven year study by Bevnet.com.

For drink vending machines, these energy-filled beverages have become popular alternatives to traditional caffeinated options such as soda or coffee. While it has caused health and dietary concerns, the largest growth of sales has been due to increased consumption by teens and young adults who are ditching coffee drinks favored by older consumers for energy drinks.

About Vending.com

Vending.com brings together a multitude of vending expertise through our circle of services. Everything you need to start, grow, or manage your vending business is provided through our easy online access. We provide vending services, financing, vending industry news, technical repair, parts and much more. Vending.com is one of the companies under the Wittern Group umbrella. Whether you are an entrepreneur starting your own vending machine business or expanding your current business, Vending.com offers you a full-range of new and used vending machines, financing, location assistance and other services to meet all of your vending needs. As a full-line vending sales company we provide customers nationwide with the right equipment for their client’s location. Our large selection of snack, soda machines, hot beverage, cold and frozen food and other quality vending machines can be configured and customized to fit any size location from small businesses to large factories. Let our network of vending machine companies go to work for you.

Colbert Report Vending Machine

For comedic news anchor, Stephen Colbert, conducting interviews is nothing new. During a recent show, things took an unfortunate twist when Stephen suddenly needed a snack and took a trip to the studio’s vending machine. While deciding on what to purchase, Stephen became angry and frustrated with the machine and started shaking it and rocking the machine back and forth. He was promptly trapped beneath the fallen vending machine and had to call for help; but only help from a celebrity.

Luckily for Colbert, Hollywood star Matt Damon was taking a stroll through the studio and attempted to help Colbert get out from under the vending machine. While he had Matt Damon around though, Colbert decided to take the opportunity to ask Matt about what he had been up to and his new upcoming movie.

The video is very entertaining and an excellent promotion for Matt Damon’s upcoming film. It is also a good reminder not to rock or climb on vending machines! There will not always be a famous celebrity around to help you out (or sit on the machine you are trapped under while you interview them.) Vending.com wants you to stay safe, enjoy a delicious snack or beverage from a vending machine and meet a celebrity under circumstances that don’t involve being trapped under anything heavy.

The Blues, Naturally

Vending machine patrons that pay close attention to the ingredients of their favorite confections may have noticed that treats with natural food coloring are not available in blue or green. The reason for this, is that until recently, the FDA had not approved a natural color additive that created these desired shades. Now, the FDA has approved spirulina extract as a source of blue color in candy and gum.

This is big news for gum and candy manufacturers who until now had to use FD&C Blue #1 (“brilliant blue”) which is an artificial ingredient for blue coloring. US manufacturers had been left behind as spirulina extract has been previously approved in other markets. The benefit to this is that there is now a history of spirulina use for natural blue food coloring and testing that the FDA and manufacturers can take advantage of.

If you have been looking for a vending machine for sale, you will most likely know what kinds of snacks and candies are popular in vending machines. Vending.com‘s machines are very frequently stocked with chewing gum, and blue and green coloring will be a very popular choice for manufacturers. Representing “cool” and “fresh” flavors and breath, blue is an extremely popular color choice for many gum products and fresh breath candies.

About Vending.com

Vending.com brings together a multitude of vending expertise through our circle of services. Everything you need to start, grow, or manage your vending business is provided through our easy online access. We provide vending services, financing, vending industry news, technical repair, parts and much more. Vending.com is one of the companies under the Wittern Group umbrella. Whether you are an entrepreneur starting your own vending machine business or expanding your current business, Vending.com offers you a full-range of vending machines, vending machine financing, location assistance and other services to meet all of your vending needs. As a full-line vending sales company we provide customers nationwide with the right equipment for their client’s location. Our large selection of snack, soda machines, hot beverage, cold and frozen food and other quality vending machines can be configured and customized to fit any size location from small businesses to large factories. Let our network of vending machine companies go to work for you.

Coffee Vending Machine Convenience

Consumers today are used to getting what they want and when they want it. With the popularity of shopping online, consumers can find almost anything they want 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Vending services are no exception. As the ultimate in location-based convenience, vending machines are located in places were patrons will want a product without easy access to a store or restaurant.

Coffee and tea are something that is easily accessible in most urban areas in the US and the variety of products has grown exponentially in recent years. To keep vending customers satisfied and give them convenient options for hot, caffeinated drinks, Vending.com has an office coffee maker vending machine with 36 different combinations of coffee, espresso, cafe latte, cappuccino, cafe mocha, tea and hot chocolate! With all of those options, this machine will rival the menu of any cafe. With our European Designed state-of-the-art brewing and filter system, your beverages are brewed to delicious perfection every time.

Our coffee and hot beverage vending machines also feature a simple user interface that makes selecting and ordering from the comprehensive drink list easy. With the iVend Ensured Delivery Sensing technology that is included with this machine, a quality product will be distributed every time.

Space-Saving Vending Solutions

Vending MachineTo keep customers returning to your vending machines you need to have a variety of products that will satisfy their needs and keep them interested. Providing variety in your vending machine selection is key to a successful vending business but sometimes having sufficient space for large or multiple vending machines can be an issue.

A perfect solution to this is a compact combination vending machine that is able to vend multiple varieties of products all from one machine. Vending.com has a large selection of these space-saving vending machines for sale, such as the Trimline Refreshment Center. This compact vending machine is able to vend up to 12 selections of chips, candy and pastries with a maximum capacity of 152 units. The drink vending part of the machine can vend bottles or cans, holding up to 144 20 oz bottles or 312 12 oz cans.

This compact vending machine also features easy-loading tilt out trays, simple controls and quality construction. To save energy usage, and to save money for vending machine operators, our combination machines are Energy Star Rated. These machines are perfect for break rooms or offices that need to maximize space or cafeterias were patrons will expect more than one type of item.

Luxury Gift Vending Machine

A vending machine in Berlin is offering a range of items that you might not find in your traditional vending machines. The vending machine was launched by German delicatessen Floris Feinkost and features gourmet selections including luxury items such as prepared food and gift packages.

This luxury vending machine has gifts that anyone would want to receive including pint-sized bottles of champagne, pastries, pralines, flavored salts, chocolates and even bottles of wines. These are just a few of the more than 60 products customers can browse through.

The unit has ten levels of display cases that showcase the wares. Vending.com has seen vending operators benefit from improved displays of vending products through updated machines, captivating graphics on the machine, and well-lit and organized product displays. In this particular luxury vending machine, the gift cases look like miniature storefront displays, with products perfectly packaged and displayed.

About Vending.com

Vending.com brings together a multitude of vending expertise through our circle of services. Everything you need to start, grow, or manage your vending business is provided through our easy online access. We provide vending services, financing, vending industry news, technical repair, parts and much more. Vending.com is one of the companies under the Wittern Group umbrella. Whether you are an entrepreneur starting your own vending machine business or expanding your current business, Vending.com offers you a full range of vending machines, financing, location assistance and other services to meet all of your vending needs. As a full-line vending sales company we provide customers nationwide with the right equipment for their client’s location. Our large selection of snack, soda machines, hot beverage, cold and frozen food and other quality vending machines can be configured and customized to fit any size location from small businesses to large factories. Let our network of vending machine companies go to work for you.

Break Room Vending Machines

When you have worked in an office for any amount of time that has a break room, it is easy to notice how odd and often gross, they can be. The reason for these oddities is often food brought in by coworkers.

Storing perishable food can often become a challenge as expiration dates become lost in the well-lit abyss that is the back of the communal refrigerator. Once good ideas for lunch may sit, left and forgotten, on tables or in communal microwaves for days on end and pots of coffee made with the best intentions can become caffeinated science projects gone wrong.

An easy way to avoid these break room horrors is with vending machines! Vending.com has a wide variety of vending machines specifically for office break rooms that include, food, snack, drink, coffee, water and more. Break room vending machines are not just for grabbing a candy bar or can of soda anymore; many of our machines can vend enough fresh food to keep employees happy and well-fed every day.

Depending on how your office decides to operate the vending machines at work, profits from them can be donated to charity, reinvested back into the office or a variety of other options that will help out more than your break room’s hygiene!

Vending Machines Help Relieve the Heat

Drink vending machines are a mainstay in most vending lineups and can be found year-round in most locations. Vending.com noticed that Coca-Cola recently launched a vending machine in Spain that adjusts its pricing strategy of its drinks depending on the on temperature.

These machines were placed in water parks and theme parks and the surprising vending machine pricing strategy was that the prices of cold beverages actually went down as the temperatures went up. With three different price points depending on how high the thermometer was reading, these machines sold drinks for the least amount of money when the temperature was the hottest.

The reasoning behind this pricing strategy was that hot and busy days at these amusement parks would be a good time to test a new Coke beverage, so decreasing the price on hot and usually busy days meant that the new drink got into more people’s hands.

Most vending machines for sale currently do not offer features to adjust the price based on external conditions such as weather. Adjusting prices based on time of day, number of people around the machine, or weather conditions could open some interesting marketing strategies. What conditions would you have your machines’ prices fluctuate with?

Vending Machines Help “World Hello Day”

Soda Vending MachineNovember 21st is World Hello Day. The goal of this holiday is to promote world peace by getting people to say hello to each other and break down the barriers that are created when we do not know someone else well enough. Introducing yourself, or even just saying “hello” to someone can create a positive and friendly atmosphere that will carry on throughout the entire day.

At Vending.com, we love this idea. People have always talked about “meeting at the water cooler” or the modern day equivalent, drink vending machine. To celebrate this holiday in your office, what places could you meet someone new or say “hello” to someone? Food and drinks are the perfect way to bring people together and casual settings like cafes, dining areas or vending machine areas function perfectly as social gather places.

We challenge you to use this entire week as a time to meet new people and create a more positive environment at your workplace just by saying hello and acknowledging the people around you. Who knows, you might meet a new best friend or learn something you would have never known!

More than Just Snack Vending Machines

Vending.comWhile Vending.com is known for providing some of the best snack machines in the industry, we’re more than a means to serve chips and candies to your consumer base. Whether you serve a small medical facility or are providing nourishment for a full cafeteria of students, we’ve got plenty of food service machines that provide satisfying meals for everyone in your area!

Ready to do more than serve basic snacks and drinks? We’ve got a full network of food service professionals around the nation ready to bring full meals to your establishment. Vending machines are an essential part of any office environment, and today’s vending units have evolved to provide much more than just a quick set of munchies to hold staff members over. Even if your place of business has a basic cafeteria selection, using a full-service food vending machine will allow you to keep both you and your associates fed, even during a late-night work session.

Not only will we proudly supply you with a food vending machine for your workplace, but we’ll make sure it keeps running for years to come! Every office needs a source of quality food, and the vast variety of options available at Vending.com will put more dining options at your fingertips than ever!

3 Ways to Find the Perfect Vending Location

Whether you are new to the vending business or a veteran, you are likely open to suggestions on how to make your business more profitable. Since a huge part of a vending businesses success is the result of the machine’s location, learning where to put your vending machine is crucial. Read below for three tips from Vending.com on how to do just that:

Go where the people are:
As a vending machine owner, you want to find locations to put your vending machines where there is a great deal of foot traffic. Examples of such places include airports, malls or busy offices. It only stands to reason that the more people who walk by your machines each day, the better your sales will be.

Be the focus:
Although it is wise to put your vending machine where there is lots of foot traffic as listed above, you can also find success when placing your machine in a more subdued environment. Your machine will often times become a source of entertainment when people are bored. Great examples of these locations that are less busy yet highly profitable include doctors’ offices, nail salons, car repair centers or barber shops.

Don’t avoid competition:
Some vending machine owners do not want to place their machines near other peoples’ machines. However, that can be a mistake. If you place a well-stocked, attractive vending machine next to a machine that is poorly maintained or rarely stocked, you will end up doing well even with competition present.

By incorporating the three tips listed above and remembering to match the type of vending machine with your clientele, you can ensure you are placing your machine in the most profitable location possible. After all, just as in real estate, location, location, location is the means to success in the vending business.

Mobile Apps to Help Your Vending Machine Business

Vending.com loves the following three apps for your vending machine business to help keep track of financials, inventory and more.. They each offer a different service that will be valuable to you in your day-to-day life:

Mint:
Mint.com, which was name one of TIME Magazine’s “Top 50 iPhone Apps” in 2011, is the perfect free mobile app for business owners on the go. Since your vending business keeps you out and about for hours each day, this app will help make your life a lot easier. The app allows you to set a financial budget for your vending machine business and enter transactions while on the go. You also can get real-time fund availability. In addition, in case you lose your phone, the app has a password to keep any unauthorized persons from viewing your financial information.

Evernote:
This handy app gives you the ability to instantly take notes on your mobile device no matter where you are. You can then easily access this information later. This app is ideal for making notes of vending machine inventory needs, writing yourself a daily to-do list or just jotting down your latest brainstorm for your business. Thanks to Evernote, you don’t have to worry about keeping a paper and pen handy at all times.

Dropbox:
This app is available on both mobile devices and tablets. It works by storing your business documents, photos, or videos to access on the go. Imagine being able to pull up all your vending machine business marketing materials on the app no matter where you are at the time. After all, potential clients are everywhere, so why shouldn’t your most impressive business information be as well.

Any of our recommended apps for vending machine businesses will help you take yours to the next level.

The Dos of Coffee Vending

More and more customers recognize and appreciate quality coffee. That’s good news for those who own drink vending machines. An educated and enthusiastic clientele means a profitable business.

To ensure the best sales, always offer your customers the best products that you can afford in your coffee vending machine. In a recent survey, daily drink customers said that they know who their coffee comes from. Give them an excellent experience with quality brews and well-maintained machinery, and they will repay you with their loyalty.

The most profitable machines are those that offer specialty drinks. Over half of all respondents said that they’d consume more coffee from their office’s vending machine if they had options that included espresso and lattes.

And, don’t neglect your coffee customers other desires. In the afternoons, many customers prefer cold drinks to hot. One of the most requested options is cold bottled water. If you have space for a cold drink machine, your customers will enjoy having that option available to them during times when they would prefer a cold drink to a hot coffee. By recognizing opportunities to upsell, you can increase your profits while keeping your customers happy.

Unexpected Benefits of Drinking Coffee

When considering vending machines for sale, opting for a coffee vending machine will automatically be passing along an array of potential health benefits. More than two dozen of those benefits were outlined by Complex City Guide , including coffee’s ability to reduce the risk of various health conditions and diseases. Three health benefits of drinking coffee especially stand out as big pluses for office workers who would be likely to encounter drink vending machines serving coffee.

Work pain relief

Sitting at a computer all day can wreak havoc on the shoulders and neck, but a cup of coffee before work can help alleviate common pains of the typical office job. A 2012 study out of Norway found 40 percent of folks who drank coffee enjoyed a lower level of pain than those who skipped the Joe.

Lower blood pressure

Although the initial effect of coffee’s caffeine is to give your blood pressure a short-term boost, it can actually help lower blood pressure for the long term. France’s Preventative and Clinical Investigations Center found those who regularly drink coffee can enjoy significantly lowered blood pressure than those who don’t. It also noted regular coffee drinkers have blood vessels that are more elastic in nature, which helps decrease the chances of developing high blood pressure.

Cavity prevention

Any candy vending machine manufacturer may want to consider adding coffee vending machines to their lineup. Certain elements found in coffee may reduce the formation of plaque, such as an element known as the tannins. This compound is found in coffee beans and has been shown to halt the plaque formation process, stopping plaque buildup before it even starts.

While most drink vending machines aim to serve up a refreshing beverage, drinking coffee can be especially refreshing for its health benefits: its ability to alleviate pain, lower blood pressure and leave you with fewer trips to the dentist.

Benefits of Drinking Coffee Regularly
(source: happytoserveyou.com.au)

Can the Coffee Help Fight the Signs of Aging?

Coffee Vending Machine | Vending.com

Surely you have heard the hype that coffee can help you look younger. You head to your favorite drink vending machines and stock up on the stuff to not only get a much needed boost of energy, but to watch your wrinkles dissipate. But it is really true? Can coffee really combat aging? It can! If you are hoping for a miracle in a cup, coffee is not your answer. In fact, there are not even real scientific studies on this claim. That being said, coffee is loaded with antioxidants, which are effective at fighting away many signs of aging, like fine lines and age spots. So in that regard, coffee may be contributing slightly to your cause.

Moderation is key. One of the reasons people believe coffee does slow aging and helps them appear younger is because the caffeine in it shrinks cells by dehydrating them. This is great for puffy eyes, but not so great for your body. So you should try to limit yourself to a couple of cups per day. If you go overboard, instead of the coffee helping your skin look smooth and supple, it will make your face look shriveled up and old. So when you are out and about and you pass by those drink vending machines at the office or the gas station, grab a coffee in the morning and perhaps one in the afternoon, but choose something else on your other stops. And if you are looking into buying vending machines for sale, or you are a vending machine manufacturer, considering adding a variety of both coffee drinks and non-coffee drinks to keep all of your customers happy.

In summary, when used in moderation, coffee can give you the energy you need to combat the day while helping your cause to slow aging, but if you overdo it, it will have the opposite effect on your skin.

The Affordability of getting a Used Vending Machine

If you wish to begin a vending machine business or to expand an existing route, used vending machines are an attractive option. Used machines often cost a fraction of what a new machine costs. However, when buying them from a reputable and well-established supplier, they can be be as reliable as brand new machines.

When shopping for used machines, always look for ones that are inspected and certified. This helps you ensure that the machine is in good working condition and will faithfully vend products to your customers.Certified Used Vending Machines for Sale

Vending.com offers several factory-remanufactured certified machines. These machines come with a 90 day warranty on parts that include the bill acceptors, coin acceptors and control boards. Plus, as a respected vending machine manufacturer, we support your purchase with a dedicated help line.

For greater affordability, machines can be purchased on one of our vending machine payment plans. Used snack machines are just $79.35 a month and drink machines are only $97.35 a month. Each of these can be paid off with just five vends a day.

Our supply of used vending machines for sale rotates constantly. Check back often to find the drink machine, snack machine or combo vending machine that fits your customers’ needs.

Soda Struggles in Recent Sales, as Water, Energy and Sports Drinks Thrive

soda declineIncreasingly, consumers are turning away from carbonated beverages and sodas, leading to a soda sales decline. According to a recent report from Cowen and Company that analyzed Nielsen xAOC sales data, sales of carbonated drinks marked a tenth straight year of declining sales in 2014.

The report explains that even though soft drink giants Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are struggling in sales, they are still posting increases in overall profits. The companies have done so by increasing prices to offset the accompanying decline in sales. This strategy resulted in a 2.5 percent increase in dollar sales for Coca-Cola amid a 3.2 percent decrease in volume. In particular, the decline in sales for Diet Coke was particularly steep with a 6.6 percent drop. During the same period, PepsiCo witnessed a 0.8 percent increase in dollar sales with declining volume.

Such a strategy is not feasible forever and the soda sales decline is not likely to disappear anytime soon. According to a 2014 Bloomberg Business article, even Coca-Cola CEO Sandy Douglas limits himself to one sugary Coke per day. The article entitled “Coke Confronts Its Big Fat Problem,” details how sales of the beverage are declining due to “the general explosion in health consciousness that has lately put Coke on the wrong side of just about every consumer lifestyle trend.”

What are consumers turning to instead of soda? Beverages that they view as healthy such as bottled water, sports drinks, and energy drinks. These drinks have seen excellent sales and increased revenues:

  • Sales of energy drinks such as Monster and Red Bull increased an average of 11.2 percent.
  • Bottled water sales increased in volume by 6.3 percent with revenues up 7 percent.
  • Sports drinks increased volume sales by 6.5 percent.
  • Ready-to-drink teas increased overall dollar sales by 9.6 percent.

These positive numbers are particularly impressive when compared to the steady long-term decline in soda sales overall.

What does this mean for vending machine owners? You may want to assess your inventory choices based on the recent sales data. Do you stock enough healthy choices in your drink vending machines? Could a few changes here and there lead to increased sales and revenues? To make the most of the trend toward health consciousness in America offering plenty of choices that include options like energy drinks, bottled water and sports drinks alongside a few soda choices might be the best blend of products to maximize your revenues.

Sources:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-07-31/coca-cola-sales-decline-health-concerns-spur-relaunch

http://fortune.com/2015/03/26/soda-sales-drop-2014/