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an estimated 10 percent of vending machines that accept credit or debit cards. Closed systems are shrinking as most work-age consumers have tradi- tional credit or debit cards available. Micro markets see huge growth Micro markets sustained their growth in 2013, with 24 percent of operators adding them, up from 15.8 percent the year before. Many opera- tors report not only increased sales, but as more locations learn about this new unattended retail opportunity, they are asking for it. In requests for proposals, some locations demand to see the operator's current micro market locations. Operators need to add this to their service in order to remain competitive. A few operators even claimed that in the coming year, they plan to divest their vending and strictly do micro markets. Micro markets contributed to the reduction of the total number of vending machines placed at loca- tions. Operators also reported remov- ing unproftable machines at various locations after reviewing sales data. The use of other point-of-sale tech- nology grew in 2013 as well. More operators reported trying some type of video screens than in the past, 11 per- cent compared to 1 percent, although the number of installed devices still remains under 1 percent (chart 10). When asked why operators made a video screen addition, most responded that it met multiple needs. Operators were focused on calorie disclosure, cashless acceptance and giving the end-user a more rewarding experi- ence, encouraging repeat business. Product segment review Projected sales for the vending cold beverage category contracted in 2013, seen in chart 12, more so than in the overall foodservice beverage market. Preliminary data from the Beverage Marketing Corp. indicates the U.S. liquid refreshment beverage market stayed essentially unchanged in size in 2013. Its fatness followed three years of growth. Niche categories continued to outperform traditional mass–market categories. BMC report continues premium beverages such as energy drinks and ready–to–drink (RTD) coffee advanced particularly forcefully during 2013. Aggressive pricing contributed to the sizeable increase in bottled water volume. Larger, more established segments, such as carbonated soft drinks and fruit beverages, failed to show growth. In the vending cold beverage category, operators struggled with increasing product costs and meeting 34 Automatic Merchandiser VendingMarketWatch.com June 2014 STATE OF THE INDUSTRY CHART 14A: CANDY/SNACK/CONFECTION MACHINE ESTIMATES, 4-YEAR REVIEW 2010 2011 2012 2013 Projected Total 1,315,000 1,315,000 1,328,150 1,290,000 CHART 14B: TOTALS BY CATEGORY AND SUBCATEGORY IN BILLIONS % SALES CHANGES 2013 2013 PROJECTED REVENUE % SALES OF TOTAL SHARE CHANGE FROM 2012 REVENUE CHANGE UNIT CHANGE CANDY $1.04B 18.58% 13.60% -0.3% -0.7% Chocolate candy 0.76 13.54 10.38 -1.9 -2.1 Gum 0.05 0.82 0.60 0.1 -2.2 Mint/hard roll 0.02 0.31 0.25 -4.6 -6.2 Non-chocolate 0.22 3.91 2.46 5.9 5.8 SNACKS $2.32B 41.48% 26.05% 6.3% 5.5% Total nutrition snacks 0.97 17.25% -14.33 2.0 1.5% Breakfast bars, cereal, fruit snacks, functional bars, nutritional pretzels, granola bars, rice cakes, trail mix Baked goods 0.71 12.73 7.76 7.6 7.5 Cakes/brownies, cereal snacks, crème-filled cake, Danish, donuts/gems, honey buns, misc. (Poptarts), muffins, pies, regular cookies, sandwich cookies, sweet rolls, unfilled cakes Crackers 0.19 3.37 2.31 3.0 2.2 Regular crackers 0.13 2.33 1.42 7.1 7.8 Sandwich crackers 0.06 1.05 0.87 -5.2 -6.8 Food snacks 0.05 0.87 0.57 4.5 -3.2 Meat snacks 0.05 0.82 0.54 4.3 -4.0 Meat and cheese 0.00 0.04 0.02 9.7 10.0 Nuts and seeds 0.05 0.90 0.52 10.2 7.4 Almonds, cashews, mixed nuts, peanuts, pistachio nuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds Salty snacks 1.22 21.86 13.75 6.4 5.5 Cheese curls, corn/tortilla chips, onion rings, popcorn, potato chips, potato sticks, pretzels, snack mix, misc. CHART 14C: AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CANDY/SNACK/CONFECTION PRODUCTS INTRODUCED TO VENDING, 4-YEAR REVIEW 2010 245 2011 152 2012 157 2013 126 Source: Management Science Associates (MSA). SOME operators report looking to be micro market only in future Source: Management Science Associates (MSA). autm_26-39_0614SOVI.indd 34 6/11/14 10:06 AM