Pictured: Interim AVA CEO Gillian White with Nicholas Ramsay AM
BY SARA DONNELLEY
Leaders from the Welsh vending industry united recently to showcase the healthiest and most innovative vending products to the National Assembly in Wales.
Supported by the Automatic Vending Association (AVA), the ‘Vending is Changing’ event, held at Ty Hywel, illustrated the industry’s engagement with policymakers to provide healthier choices for Welsh consumers.
Featuring major brands including N&W Vending, Cymraeg Vending, Healthy Nibbles and 24 Vend, the expo highlighted how healthy vending is successfully working for businesses and how Welsh vending producers and manufacturers can support Wales’ health agenda.
With nine Assembly Members and six exhibitors in attendance, the event proved to be an overwhelming success, as sponsor William Powell AM explains: “I was delighted to sponsor this event. It was great to see the wide range of healthy snacks that were on offer and for Assembly Members and staff to have a chance to sample them.”
“Our membership in Wales is keen to engage with the Welsh Government and Welsh Assembly in order to demonstrate how we, as an industry, can provide more choice and healthier products across the country’ Gillian White, interim CEO at the AVA, told PV. “This event enabled us to facilitate this engagement and demonstrate how Welsh vending producers and manufacturers can, and are, working with the country’s regulatory bodies to ensure that the new ‘Towards Sustainable Growth: An Action Plan for the Food and Drink Industry 2014-2020’ strategy is as successful as possible.”
Despite the misconceptions, vending is a progressive industry that continues to make advancements in healthy food options. Indeed, the AVA has recently worked with University College Birmingham (UCB) to develop a module on the BA (Hons) Culinary Arts Management course which saw students devise new, healthier vending products.
Exhibitor Burts Chips presented its new Lentil Waves product to Assembly Members and staff at the event. Containing only 99 calories per bag in three different flavours, Lentil Waves are a new, alternative snack for the vending and food service sectors, which also boast 40 per cent less fat than a traditional crisp and a low glycaemic index score.
For Mark Lamble of Burts Chips, the final word: “The day was really informative for Burts and members of the Assembly, and we generated further interest to visit the factory to see how Lentil Waves are made.”
The AVA’s engagement programme with the Welsh Assembly does not stop there, as interim CEO Gillian White is set to attend a follow up meeting to discuss future progress with the Deputy Minister for Health, Vaughan Gething AM.
For more information about the AVA, please click here.
