NAMA Show 2026: Technology and support solutions that power the industry forward (Part 2)

After exploring smart market innovation in Part 1, Automatic Merchandiser & VendingMarketWatch’s coverage of the 2026 NAMA Show shifts the focus from hardware to something just as critical: The technology, infrastructure and support systems that are powering the industry forward. Back on the convention floor in Los Angeles, contributing editor Bob Tullio continues the conversation with a wide range of suppliers and operators.

The first of our 2026 NAMA Show podcast episodes looked at what’s new, trending and eye-catching. This episode is about what makes it all work. AI continues to dominate the conversation with a focus on loss prevention and operational efficiency. Suppliers are leveraging increasingly sophisticated analytics, computer vision and cloud-based tools to tackle one of the industry’s biggest challenges: micro market theft. Technology is enabling growth and protecting it.

At the same time, digital media platforms are transforming micro markets into dynamic retail environments, helping operators tell their story, promote products and drive incremental sales.

Even in a show dominated by AI and automation, there’s a strong reminder that not every solution needs to be high-tech to be impactful. Sometimes, the biggest operational wins come from solving simple, everyday challenges. Great fixtures, pre-kitting solutions, and the right bean-to-cup coffee for a location can be a game-changer. The OCS channel makes a meaningful showing, with continued innovation. 

If Part 1 showed where the industry is going, Part 2 explains how it is getting there.

Press play to hear from:

• Barry Rosenberg, Coastal Refreshments (formerly Vending One)
• Mac Bolak, Panoptyc
• Barbara Russell, Holiday House Distributing
• Patrick McMullan, Breaktime TV
• Madison Muncie, All State Manufacturing
• Evan Jarecki, Gimme
• Kirk Wilder, de Jong Duke
• Robert Liva, Graphics That Pop
• Dean Prather, Q-Tote
• Bryan Hebert, ProWatch Solutions
• Juan Jorquera, Tech 2 Success
• Aaleyah Davila, PayRange

No time to listen? Prefer to read? Here is an edited podcast transcript:

Bob Tullio: On this episode of Automatic Merchandiser’s Vending & OCS Nation, it’s part 2 of our coverage of the 2026 NAMA Show in Los Angeles.

I forgot to ask: Did anyone check out some of the venues that we talked about in our April 21 episode of Automatic Merchandiser’s Vending & OCS Nation, must-see booths and the ultimate downtown LA playbook? If you did, let me know.

Personally, my wife and I checked out the Grand Central Market and two of the highly rated restaurants in the venue. For the Win, best burger in LA. And I’m a big fan of In-N-Out. We also ate at Via’s Tacos, the proud winner of Taco Madness, recognized by Michelin, and you saw them on the Super Bowl halftime show. They are so good. And we took the Angels Flight Funicular Railway in the Bunker Hill District.

Inside the convention center, I talked to some impressive industry suppliers, with an emphasis on technology and solutions that support the convenience services world. That’s what this episode is all about. You will hear from some new names and some new suppliers, plus some very well-known entities that have been important to the industry for a long time.

Let’s start with an operator comment: Barry Rosenberg from Coastal Refreshments (formerly Vending One) in Los Angeles. I asked Barry why the NAMA Show is so important for operators like him.

Barry Rosenberg: It’s the relationships that we make here. I definitely believe every time I come to a NAMA Show, I get to put a face with a name, build on that relationship. It’s really valuable.

Bob Tullio: That’s great. Anything particularly blow you away at the show?

Barry Rosenberg: All the new products, innovation. People are constantly innovating, which I think innovation is important to our industry. I see people trying, which is nice.

Bob Tullio: Speaking of innovation, here’s Mac Bolak from Panoptyc.

Mac Bolak: We stop theft and shrink in 25,000 micro markets across the US with AI, software and cameras.

Bob Tullio: So you’ve seen a little bit of growth over the years, haven’t you?

Mac Bolak: In seven years, we have scaled rapidly and become the market leader by an exponential amount.

Bob Tullio: Fantastic. How’s the show been for you?

Mac Bolak: NAMA is our Super Bowl. It’s our pride. It’s our joy. It’s been an absolute pleasure.

Bob Tullio: And what’s resonating when operators come into your booth? What do you really see happening? What’s exciting them?

Mac Bolak: Yeah, it’s different types and more types of shrink and theft detection. The AI is rapidly advancing, and we’re able to catch more theft faster and additional types of theft. So less slips through the cracks and, at the end of the day, it’s all ROI. We cut shrink by 50% on average when the operational focus is there. And we’re trying to enable operators to focus operationally on cutting their theft and shrink.

Bob Tullio: Here’s Patrick McMullan from Breaktime TV.

Patrick McMullen: We’re your digital media platform. We want to take, as a media provider, to help you grow your same store sales, using media, putting on a visual presentation to promotions, new flavors, newest products, all the latest deals. Plus, we want to be able to communicate better, tell your story better, and give your clients a better experience.

Bob Tullio: Is this primarily for the micro market channel?

Patrick McMullen: It’s your first choice, but we do vending. We have some vending locations, and we not only do break rooms, but we also go outside the break rooms. There are businesses that love the communication tool that say, ‘Hey, I want to be throughout my business.’

Bob Tullio: How’s the NAMA Show been for you?

Patrick McMullen: Well, I can tell you this, it’s been great because we pre-sold a bunch of appointments for people to come and talk to us. And it’s not only been quantity, but quality. We’ve had a great show, but without question.

Bob Tullio: I’m hearing that feedback a lot from people that the quality of attendees has been very, very solid. Which is good.

Patrick McMullen: Yeah, it has been. And people are here making decisions this year. I don’t know what’s different because I’ve been either at NAMA or showing at NAMA since 2014. I kind of took a little bit of a break in between when I left Three Square to here I am now. But this year, it’s people are buying. They’re here to make decisions. And plus, we’re something that’s different. And people haven’t seen this before.

Bob Tullio: What is really resonating with operators when they come into your booth?

Patrick McMullen: Well, they see that we’re a business partner and we’re here literally with very little effort and certainly very little friction. We can grow their sales and make their markets look better. You just walk in and aesthetically, it looks nice. They see it as a viable solution for them that doesn’t really have a lot of effort. Plus, we’re a full service. We’ll do everything for them. We’ll install it. We’ll run it. We remove all the yeah, buts. The yeah, but I don’t have the time. the money or we take care of all that. So they get it.

Bob Tullio: Here is Madison Muncie from All State Manufacturing.

Bob Tullio: You’re in the fixture business, micro market fixtures. You state your prices right up front very clearly, which I think is pretty interesting. I like that concept. How’s the show going for you?

Madison Muncie: It’s going really well, actually. We’ve had a lot of traffic and a lot of people who are really excited about, you know, the I guess the durability and the beauty of our product in particular. So it’s going really well.

Bob Tullio: Tell me what it is that’s resonating, though, with operators when they come into your booth.

Madison Muncie: Absolutely. So a big thing is our products are fully assembled. So, they’re not going to be spending all of that time assembling everything on site. It’s literally you take it off the pallet, you put it in there, you put the snacks in it and you’re done. You walk away. That and the fact that people can count on these fixtures for decades. We’ve had people who have had the same stands for 20 years.

Bob Tullio: I sat down with Juan Jorquera from Tech 2 Success, an industry tech leader.

Juan Jorquera: We are the technology provider in the industry that integrates with all the major players. We can help with anything from connectivity to digital marketing and website services, cloud services. IT infrastructure — whatever you need, if we can’t do it, we know someone that can.

Bob Tullio: The NAMA Show for you this year: How has it gone for Tech2Success?

Juan Jorquera: Yeah, we’ve had a lot of solid conversations with a number of existing and potential customers about our Tech2Go pantry service app, our preventative maintenance app, and then our e-commerce platform has generated a lot of interest for those guys that want to get their portfolio online — like a custom Amazon shop site — so that they can sell more stuff in an easier way and streamline that back end. People are trying to get some better workflows and then also make it easier for their customers to get that improved service.

Bob Tullio: Amid smart market mania, one channel that didn’t get enough attention at this year’s show, in my opinion, is OCS. Here is Kirk Wilder.

Bob Tullio: Tell us what de Jong Duke is all about.

Kirk Wilder: We are a bean-to-cup manufacturer supplying coffee equipment for the OCS world. We’re based in the US, out of Detroit, Mich. We are one of many, but being based in the US makes a big difference.

Bob Tullio: Absolutely. Well, we were a big fan of your product at Gourmet [Coffee]. I mean, we certainly had a lot of de Jong Duke machines. How’s the NAMA Show been for you this year?

Kirk Wilder: It’s been a good show, introducing our new equipment. We have the Lua, and now we have a partnership with Starbucks. So that’s been very good and kept us really busy at the booth.

Bob Tullio: What’s really resonating with operators when they come into the de Jong Duke booth?

Kirk Wilder: I think it’s really our innovation that we have. You’re familiar with ConnectMe, which is our communication software. That’s a really big hit with our operators. The innovation, again, as I mentioned, with our new brewer mechanism with up to 20 grams, our iced options now that we have with our brewers. We have a new Rosa coming out, a new Lima coming out, and the Neo Next coming out. So I would say mainly it’s our innovation. It means a lot to the operators.

Bob Tullio: Here’s Barbara Russell from Holiday House, offering unmatched support for the OCS industry, and certainly taking technician training to the next level.

Barbara Russell: Holiday House is an OCS distributor of almost anything you need for making a cup of coffee that’s non-consumable. We sell the water filtration products, equipment parts, the plumbing supplies, electrical supplies, condiment racks and vessels.

Bob Tullio: And you guys have been doing this for a little while.

Barbara Russell: A little bit, about 40 years.

Bob Tullio: 40 years. That’s pretty good. How has the NAMA Show been for Holiday House this year?

Barbara Russell: The NAMA Show has been great this year. You know, we were nervous about the location a little bit — being an East Coast company — but because we serve nationwide — you know, we were nervous about attendance — but really it’s been a great show. I had the opportunity to walk the floor, and I was really happy to see there are almost 450 exhibitors, which is good.

The people who are coming into the booth are the decision makers. We’re getting a lot of customers that we don’t normally see when the show is on the East Coast. So, it’s really been a great show for us.

Bob Tullio: What is really resonating with operators when they come into your booth?

Barbara Russell: This year, what’s really resonating is, of course, the water filtration is always a big topic of conversation. The water block flood device is always something that they’re looking for to protect the customer and protect themselves. But, our biggest thing this year, is that our bamboo products are back in stock. We switched manufacturers, and it’s a really nicely made product, a much higher-end looking product than what we used to have. So that’s what the people are really looking at this year.

Bob Tullio: One company is focused on helping operators deal with a booming beverage market. Dean Prather from Q-Tote.

Dean Prather: We are the beverage pre-kitting answer that you’ve been looking for.

Bob Tullio: Okay, so you want to expand on that?

Dean Prather: Sure. So one of the biggest questions that the beverage pre-kitting software — or any type of pre-kitting software gets asked is — what do you pre-kit beverages into? And we designed something that was specifically for our operation. I’m an operator out of Kansas City with Quality Vending. And we saw a need. The bottlers are starting to shrink-wrap their product and not provide trays. And it’s making it a challenge for for us to get it from the warehouse to the customer. The Q-Tote resolves that problem for you.

Bob Tullio: That’s great. And how’s the NAMA Show been for you this year?

Dean Prather: Fantastic. I mean, NAMA, what it’s provided for me as an operator and now as a vendor is that you just can’t even put a value on it. It’s been a great show, a lot of energy. And I think anybody who said LA wasn’t the place to come, you’re missing out. So, if you’re not here, shame on you, should be here.

Bob Tullio: What’s resonating with operators from what you’ve seen when they come into your booth?

Dean Prather: Coming into my booth, it’s kind of a really strange statement because my product is about as a simplistic plastic molded, non-technology based product you can get. But with AI being such an important part of our industry now, that’s all I’m hearing. And I’m reminding them, ‘Don’t forget! You’re worried about how you’re going to go to the customer out in the field. Don’t forget about your operations back at the warehouse.’ And my very simplistic product, I think, answers a lot of those questions for you.

Bob Tullio: Here is a micro market theft-mitigation specialist, Bryan Hebert with ProWatch Solutions.

Bob Tullio: Bryan, what’s ProWatch all about?

Bryan Hebert: With ProWatch, we’re leveraging AI and other analytics to monitor theft in micro markets. We have cloud camera integrations. We work with the kiosk provider, and we enable the operator to ultimately have visibility into the market and understand what’s happening with loss prevention as well as increasing sales opportunities.

Bob Tullio: How has the NAMA Show gone for ProWatch Solutions?

Bryan Hebert: It’s actually gone great. Yesterday was a little slow getting started, but today has been phenomenal. Some big names have shown up at the booth with a lot of interest, and we’re really excited about the remainder of the show.

Bob Tullio: What’s really resonating with operators when they show up at the ProWatch Solutions booth?

Bryan Hebert: I think theft is still a problem with micro markets. And ultimately, as we develop our platform, we’re enabling operators to really see the value of what we can bring, and ultimately, have them have an understanding that there is a solution out there that can mitigate theft and give visibility into the markets that they never had before to enable that growth.

Bob Tullio: Evan Jarecki from Gimme was upbeat about this year’s NAMA Show.

Evan Jarecki: We are a VMS software provider. We have the VMS back-end for the management side, the front end — our bread and butter — the mobile app and experience for route drivers, and a mobile picking tool as well.

Bob Tullio: How’s the NAMA show been for you?

Evan Jarecki: It’s been great. So, this is the first time we’re exhibiting in several years. We exhibited for seven years prior. We’ve been to the show for the last 11 years straight. But this is actually, I was realizing, the first time we’ve been able to show a mature Gimme VMS from the booth to the market. So, being able to have that ready for operators when they come by has been awesome. And I think the partnership with Ingenico is drumming up some interest from other technical providers as well.

Bob Tullio: That’s great. What is really resonating with operators when they come into your booth?

Evan Jarecki: Right now, it’s still learning about operators who have challenges that can be solved by VMS. In a lot of ways, it’s still always different from every operator, one to the next. So from one, it will be, I’m still having warehouse inventory challenges. And then, because we have VMS in a great, mature state, we can show off how we address those issues. So, at whatever the issue the operator is having, we have a good solution to provide and show to them. So, I think it’s that it’s tying in interest in a more strong way than when we’re launching a product for the first time, where there’s just a lot more questions than answers, and we have answers now.

Bob Tullio: From PayRange, here’s Aaleyah Davila.

Aaleyah Davila: PayRange is a connected platform powering self-service retail. So, we bring, specifically here at NAMA, vending solutions, but it could be vending, laundry, amusement. We bring payments, machines, operations, data, all in one platform.

Bob Tullio: How has the show been for you? Have you guys been pretty busy? Have you enjoyed the show?

Aaleyah Davila: Yeah, the show’s been great. What we’re really excited about is connecting with our customers and then connecting with... new, maybe potential customers, and really helping them understand that they can have it all in one platform. So, cashless mobile payments, insights, data, instead of having or needing various different vendors, being able to have one ecosystem is really enticing to people.

Bob Tullio: Wow. What’s really resonating with operators when they show up in your booth?

Aaleyah Davila: I think it’s the fact that they can not just go to cashless mobile payments, because you have a lot of people that are doing that today. But it’s the fact that they can be in touch with us, who we own the patents on cashless mobile payments.

Bob Tullio: Sure.

Aaleyah Davila: We have the back-end system to support them. We can help them do more automated marketing to reach their end consumer and then do a lot more with their data in terms of getting real insights so they can really understand their business and not just have those insights as far as visibility, but then being able to layer on how they can grow.

Bob Tullio: Talking to Robert Liva from Graphics That Pop, is never boring. And actually, this time I like his advice. What’s your impression of this 2026 NAMA Show?

Robert Liva: Fantastic. Everybody’s got to come out to NAMA. Support the industry.

Bob Tullio: No, I mean the show itself. Are you getting pretty good traction in terms of your products?

Robert Liva: Time will tell, but I believe so. We hope so.

Bob Tullio: What is it that’s resonating with customers when they come into your particular booth?

Robert Liva: Well, I have a lot of unique products. We have our new expandable contractable magnetic header system. We have our new shelving system. You know, it gives them a chance to see what’s new in the industry.

Bob Tullio: You know, as a general question, because you’re a guy who’s been around for a while, what is it that you think operators need to do to succeed today?

Robert Liva: What they have to do is educate their minds so they have the tools to achieve their goals. And it’s all about education. I think everybody should listen to the Bob Tullio podcast.

Bob Tullio: That’s it for now. On the next episode of Automatic Merchandiser’s Vending & OCS Nation podcast, we’re focusing on products that drive the convenience services industry.