Vendex North Round-Up.
Isn’t it amazing how you can see people around, year after year, and never have a proper conversation with them?
Andrea Goswell falls into that category. We’ve worked together – kind of – when I was writing an article for Parcel Holders and Westomatic had just become the first machine manufacturer to sign up as a ‘Parcel Supplier’. So when, at Vendex, she collared me with all the single-mindedness of a PR girl on the strip at Ayia Napa it seemed rude to decline her offer to take a taste test. Consequently, we had our first ever ‘proper chat’.
I had a latte with a splash of caramel syrup and a banana milk shake and yes, if I’d been doing a blind taste test I would have thought that fresh milk was at the centre of both drinks. I would have been wrong.
Apparently, I’m not alone. Westomatic recently challenged 450 Spar store owners to take the same test and they failed, too. Of course, it’s not all down to the Sigma free-standing vending machine: in fact, something’s afoot on the ingredients market. (More on that, here, coming soon).
There’s a stand-out machine on the stand and not just because it’s the only one that isn’t finished in shiny black. According to Andrea, ‘green is the new black’.
The Eco Encore’s exterior is manufactured using 100% recycled metal. Internally, all the components are brand new. ‘Encore’s been around a few years and it’s the workhorse of our fleet’, Andrea says. ‘The Eco version is an entry-level machine aimed at the B&I marketplace. It offers all standard drinks plus 2 soups and fresh brew tea. It’s got something for everybody on the factory floor.’
Eco Encore is being sold as much on its price as its capabilities, as demonstrated in the photograph. ‘It’s one of the cheapest machines of its type to come onto the market in recent years and it has a full, two year warranty’, Andrea tells me. ‘Traditionally we’ve been seen as innovators at the high-end of the market but now we’re aiming at the volume end of the marketplace. We’ve had a few difficult years, but we’re definitely coming up through the ranks now.’
IR-Y
