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Healthy Vending Companies Challenge Established Operators To Overcome Traditional Mindset
by Elliot Maras - Wednesday February 22, 2012Back on 11-16-11, I noted that traditional vending operators are losing business to dedicated, healthy vending companies because they fail to communicate their own ability to provide “better for you” options. I didn’t say this was an easy challenge for established vending operators to meet, given the marketing expertise of these dedicated, turnkey healthy vending companies. The point that bears repeating is that when a vending operator succeeds in involving the customers at the location, the location will always choose to work with a company that fully understands the location’s vending needs. Dedicated healthy vending companies cannot do this. I recently heard from a vending operator who has an outstanding healthy vending... -
Will Calorie Disclosure Be Our Industry’s Y2K Challenge?
by Elliot Maras - Wednesday February 15, 2012The February issue of Automatic Merchandiser provides an update by Managing Editor Emily Refermat on the calorie disclosure rule that was announced last spring ( http://tinyurl.com/7bdjutf ). While the details of the rule are not final, product and equipment manufacturers have been introducing innovative ways to allow vending operators to communicate nutrition information and other types of information on vending machines. Vending operators are naturally hopeful that the final rule will not be too cumbersome. At the same time, many operators realize that whatever they are required to do to comply with the regulation, point of sale communication can help make vending machines more appealing to consumers. In discussing all the video... -
Government Releases Encouraging Employment Report; Sector Changes Point To Ongoing Challenges For Vending
by Elliot Maras - Wednesday February 8, 2012Last week’s jobs report from the U.S. Labor Department brought the encouraging news that U.S. unemployment fell to 8.3 percent. The number itself is not great, but the fact that it’s moving in the right direction gives cause for optimism. The report noted that the manufacturing sector added 50,000 jobs in January. Professional and business services added 70,000 jobs, and education and health services added 36,000 jobs. The uptick in manufacturing jobs is encouraging since manufacturing has historically been the most profitable employment sector for vending and onsite foodservice. But operators need to recognize the gain in manufacturing was overshadowed by that of professional and business services, continuing a long-term trend... -
USA Today Reports On Vending Videoscreens; As Technology And Better Media Relations Change The Market, Operators Must Stay One Step Ahead
by Elliot Maras - Wednesday February 1, 2012Yesterday’s article in USA Today about how video screens are starting to revolutionize vending ( http://tinyurl.com/6q6jkal ) is helping to set the stage for a new era in vending. The article went into detail about the videoscreens from VendScreen and Vendors Exchange International Inc.’s Make Informed Nutritional Decisions (MIND). Newspapers, TV stations and other media have been reporting about new vending technology more frequently in the last two years. Yesterday’s USA Today story was one of the most specific stories to run in a national consumer publication. The article focused on the videoscreens’ ability to address pending calorie disclosure rules. It also mentioned the technology’s ability to support new types of... -
Pennsylvania State Study Blasts Myths About Vending And Child Obesity; Another Footnote In A Long Debate That Concerns You
by Elliot Maras - Wednesday January 25, 2012A Pennsylvania State University study published in the journal, Sociology of Education, has raised a lot of eyebrows recently concerning the role (or lack thereof) that vending plays in child obesity. As VendingMarketWatch reported on 01-20-12, researchers found that children’s weight gain between fifth and eighth grades was not associated with the introduction or the duration of exposure to competitive food sales in middle school. The researchers found that the habits established in the home are what causes kids to be overweight. What else is new, you ask? This report certainly comes as no surprise to anyone in the vending industry. Studies have long established that kids do not consume enough food or beverages at school to make them...
