Automatic Merchandiser serves the business management, marketing, technology and product information needs of its readers including vending operators, coffee service operators, product brokers, and product and equipment distributors in print.
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ew products are the vari- ety consumers crave. Variety in foodservice generates sales. That's why every year, Auto- matic Merchandiser and Vend- ingMarketWatch.com ask readers to vote for their best-selling new products from the prior year. As one might expect many of the win- ners are consistent with trends seen in other retail segments. The BIG AZ Cheeseburger was always popular with consumers, and now its latest extension, the Advan- cePierre Foods' BIG AZ BaconAd- dict® Cheeseburger, has been crowned a new product of the year winner in the food category. Chocolate spans three categories Chocolate proved to be a big winner this year due to its mass appeal. Lucintel reported that 73.9 percent of the U.S. population enjoyed eating chocolate in 2013. It is unsurprising then that three of the six new product winners included chocolate — M&M;'s® Choco- late Bar, Mrs. Freshley's Chocolate Dreamies™ and Basil's Chocolate Chip Mini Bites. Consumers love their chocolate, but they are also try- ing to eat healthier. Herr's® Good Natured Selects Baked Multi-Grain Crisps Cheddar Cheese, the winner of the salted snack category, meets this demand for "better for you" products. Drinks also ft well into consumer trends. Coca-Cola's Honest® Unsweet Lemon Tea won in the cold beverage category — a testament to the increas- ing demand for ready-to-drink tea. Con- sumers are also showing a preference for gourmet coffee, with one third of coffee drinking adults enjoying at least one per day, according to the National Coffee Association. The winner in hot beverage, J.M. Smuckers Folgers® Cappuccino Fall Flavors, meets this trending consumer demand. Two new categories were intro- duced to this year's contest — equip- ment and technology. With more than 58 percent of American adults owning smartphones, according to the Pew Research Internet Project, and more companies incorporating digital sig- nage into their machines, technology and equipment are becoming increas- ingly relevant, making them two obvi- ous choices for category additions. The Newco's Fresh Cup 3 , winner of the equipment category, is a great example of new equipment that meets several consumer demands related to gourmet coffee. With the newness of mobile technology in vending, it was an unexpected win for Vend Central's Mobile Request 1, a mobile app for consumers, in the category of technology. Deliver on trends The AdvancePierre Foods' BIG AZ BaconAd- dict® Cheeseburger , winner of the food category, was launched at the 2013 NAMA OneShow and began shipping one month later. As a line extension of the BIG AZ brand sandwiches, the BIG AZ BaconAddict Cheeseburger is set to satisfy bacon-loving consumers. "At AdvancePierre, we monitor food and favor trends constantly, making sure to keep our offerings up to date with current trends," said Nancy Todys, senior director of convenience market- ing at AdvancePierre. "Bacon on sand- N AdvancePierre Foods' BIG AZ BaconAddict Cheeseburger April 2014 VendingMarketWatch.com Automatic Merchandiser 27 S T A N D I N G H E A D E R autm_26-31_0414POY_F.indd 27 3/24/14 4:31 PM