Leading global packaging specialists, Huhtamaki, has further enhanced its knowledge of the marketplace, with independent consumer research commissioned into hot drinks vending and vending machine usage within the UK. What’s more, the company has, by freely sharing its discoveries, enhanced its standing in the UK vending market.
With the kind permission of Huhtamaki, we’re publishing the research findings here, verbatim.
Over 4,000 consumers were asked if they bought vended drinks, of which 50% said ‘yes’. These 2,000 respondents were then questioned on four main areas – frequency and type of purchase; what they are drinking; the importance of the vending cup; and environmental concerns.
According to the research, almost half a million consumers buy a cup of hot or cold drink from a vending machine once a day at least. Nearly 50% of consumers buy a hot or cold drink from a vending machine once a week or more – that’s almost 1.325m consumers!
Convenience (70%) and availability (60%) – either because no retail alternative is available or because it’s available 24/7 – are the most popular reasons why consumers buy from a vending machine. Most consumers (24%) buy from a vending machine at work.
Traditional vending machines are most frequently used, and are used by 65% of consumers. They are most commonly situated in hospitals, the workplace and in educational establishments. Over half of consumers (56%) buy from a vending machine which dispenses drinks that are made using fresh ingredients.
The most popular drink bought by consumers from a vending machine is coffee (70%). White coffee (37%), cappuccino (27%) and latte (15%) are preferred – choices that reflect the taste expectations of consumers and their buying habits from high street chains, which means that they are now available in vending.
Just over half of consumers (51%) know whether the hot drinks sold in the vending machine they use are Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance (or neither). Of those who knew, almost a quarter (24%) said that drinks were Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance.
When it comes to paying for vended goods, cash is still the most popular method of payment amongst consumers (94%). However, consumers buying a vended drink within an educational establishment are most likely to pay via a non-cash method, such as by using a pre-paid card, token or Smartphone.
With environmental awareness amongst consumers at a high, consumers not only want to know more about the environmental credentials of the vending cups dispensing their drinks, but are willing to pay more for them to be compostable. Over three quarters of consumers (76%) want to know about the ‘green’ credentials of the paper vending cup being dispensed – like whether it’s recyclable or compostable; made in the UK; or made from paperboard sourced from responsibly managed forests. Of the consumers who pay for their vended drinks, 76% would pay 1p more for their drinks to be served in compostable vending cups.
The majority of consumers (86%) have access to on-site facilities to ‘waste stream’ their used vending cups. 60% of consumers use them – of which, 36% use them to recycle paper vending cups, and 30% use them for the collection of plastic vending cups.
60% of consumers who buy drinks which are vended in a paper cup would ‘up-size’ to a larger, high street-style 12oz or 16oz size if it were available; and nearly half of consumers (45%) would happily pay more for their vended hot drink if it were sold in a premium quality double wall cup,
74% of consumers who had bought a drink from a vending machine also bought food and/or a canned/bottled drink.
The vending research follows previous independent research commissioned by Huhtamaki into consumer attitudes towards takeaway hot drinks in the UK.
For further information about disposable vending cups, hot drinks in vending or the links between vended drinks and the environment, please email sa***@**********ki.com to receive a copy of Huhtamaki’s market trends guides.
*Planet Vending would like to thank Huhtamaki for allowing us to share its research with our readers.
