Tony Smith, one of vending’s best-known faces, has decided to retire.
After a successful career spanning some 30 years in the coffee industry the past 15 years at Douwe Egbers and JDE Tony Smith has decided to step down from the ‘hectic corporate world’ to spend more time with his wife Carole – who’s is also retiring in June
Apart from 2 years working in the retail market for Nestle Findus frozen foods, Tony played out his career mainly in the HoReCa sector in both grocery wholesaler and the coffee market. He worked for Bookers delivered wholesale within the hotel and restaurant markets and then began his love of Coffee with Matthew Algie, an independent coffee roaster based in Glasgow (now owned by Tchibo).
Tony Smith joined Douwe Egberts (then part of Sara Lee based in Borehamwood) in 2003, as National Sales Manager within the independent market. He spent several years serving on the committee of the BHA, the governing body of the UK Hotel and Restaurant trade, on the ingredients committee. He also served two years as Chairman, which helped consolidate the Douwe Egbert brand within the Hotel and Restaurant sector.
In 2009 Douwe Egberts chose to change from a direct to an indirect sales operation and created the FSD distribution partner network for Cafitesse. Following the successful transformation in 2010, Tony went on to develop a new vending business for Douwe Egberts, which has grown over the years to its present status as a key supplier to the vending industry.
Tony has helped shape the improvement in Bean to Cup coffee quality in vending over the past 8 years. In 2012, for instance, he worked with Crane to produce Espresso bean coffee like a bean2cup brewer. In the same year he helped developed the first coffee2go pod concept with Dave Harkness at Regency, which enabed operators to compete with the likes of Costa Express and the High Street. Finally, he persuaded Ray McNamara of Huhtamaki to work with Crane to develop the first free standing vending machine to dispense an insulated paper cup, which showcased at AVEX 2013.
Tony has served on the board of the AVA the governing body for the UK vending industry for the past 6 years and has chaired the past two AVEX committees. In 2016 he was appointed to the board of the EVA as the UK`s representative, a role in which he has been particularly active.
Tony is looking forward to a well-earned retirement when he leaves JDE at the end of September to peruse his many interests with his family, but with a wealth of knowledge and experience within the vending industry – and a good reputation amongst manufacturers, suppliers and customers alike – don’t be surprised Iif the Big Fella maintains his relationships in some capacity within the vending industry.
And just like his friend Dave Ward, Tony wants to work towards reducing his Golf handicap. ‘It’s been at 28 for far too long’, he says. His other ambitions are to see Sussex Cricket club win a county championship, and Tottenham Hotspur win a trophy in their new stadium.
Ah well, good luck with the latter, Mr. Tony Smith. After all, you can’t have everything!
All of us at PV wish Tony and Carole a long and happy retirement.
* Planet Vending’s archive of Tony Smith stories is HERE
