BY YVONNE REYNOLDS-YOUNG
It was day one of AVEX 2015, and the sun shone brightly on Manchester City Centre. We think she (Manchester, that is) was just out to prove to all those who seem to think that it always rains on her, that her residents do know what the sun looks and feels like. However, it has to be said that thanks to the ‘improvements’ going on in and around St Peter’s Square the walk in 27 degrees of full-on sun torture from Market Street to Manchester Central was a tad challenging. Even more challenging was the walk back with exhibition feet. (Warning: the trainers are going on tomorrow).
Once we’d walked through the doors, having smiled politely at the AVA’s videographer, the talented Mr George, we picked up our badges and entered the hall. We were immediately struck by the buzz. It was cool and welcoming, a real contrast to the furnace outside.
The editor and I really needed a brew by now so we headed past all the other stands trying to thrust coffee into our hands to what is tried and tested for us: the Necta Karisma, on N&W’s HoReCa stand on Barista Street. (The first coffee of the day is mega important and we’re not in the business of taking chances).
The N&W stand was comfortably familiar, (apart from all the lovely peeps, of course), as we’d seen the same gorgeous styling at Venditalia last year. Suitably refreshed and caught up with the gang, we set off to see the show.
It has to be said that the buzz took a while to buzz, (probably a lot more to do with the Vendies being on the last night than apathy from the vending fraternity) but we know it was hoped that the Manchester business community would take time out to visit and sample the best of vending. Time will tell who came today and how many, and – of course – who ventures out tomorrow.
From our point of view though, it felt like a real press day. Not only had we been invited to meet with a few exhibitors proud to show us their new machines and products but those that didn’t invite us in advance made a point of catching our eyes as we passed and spent quality time with us. We now have a number of stories to tell and like true PR/Journalists (is that what we are now?) we thrive on telling stories. Amazingly, people seem to be reading them too – judging by the record number of readers we’re attracting. (Thanks by the way – that’s you!)
By 1.00pm we were starving, couldn’t see any food to scrounge so we went off site for a Pizza Express but by the time we came back all the sandwiches and snacks were out! We’ll know the score tomorrow though.
On the Broderick’s stand, we had ourselves a bit of a treat. Johnny had invited the one and only Levi Roots (see previous story here) to launch his new product into vending with Broderick’s. Now, we all know that the editor is a bit of a musician and songwriter himself, so he was more interested in Levi’s music credentials (he was a mate of Bob Marley) than his reggae reggae sauce or his crisps or tropical drinks. The moment Levi asked if he could hear any of his songs, Ian’s new CD (Beneath the Blue) was out of my bag and into the hands of the coollest dude I’ve ever met. He said he’d play it and would let us know if he was going to cover one of Ian’s songs! Made our day, frankly…
We mentioned that our first coffee had to be from the Karisma. Well, we had a few over the course of the day and none of them anything was anything like stereotypical ‘vending coffee’. Our last one though was cold, a frappe from a new machine that we predict will be a winner. Tony Smith at Douwe Egberts, we salute you. I’m sorry I couldn’t finish that amazing drink but I was over caffeinated and buzzing like the champion buzzer of Buzzerland. It was delicious and all at a touch of a button…
During Day One, we met some amazingly enthusiastic people who had time to talk to us and who were proud to do so. David Wilson (Smart Vend) in particular was a joy to listen to as he is obviously proud of all his ‘guys’ as he referred affectionately to each of his machines. It was as though they were his best buddies. Special mention too for Alexsander, the star from Unicum with his app controlled machine that produces top quality coffee.
AVEX 2015 feels great; we can’t wait for Day two. Will a Karisma coffee be our first appointment? It’s just about the only thing we can be sure of…
See you tomorrow.
