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VendingMarketWatch Top News Stories n December 1, 2014, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published its fnal rule on Calorie Labeling of Articles of Food in Vending Machines with an implementation date of December 1, 2016. NAMA has recently announced that the FDA plans to issue a compliance guide on its calorie disclosure rule within the next month. Therefore, NAMA recommends vending operators and suppliers delay making any changes to meet the new rule until the FDA's small entity compliance guide has been issued. NAMA's remarks "Since the issuance of the rule, NAMA has been working hand-in-hand with indi- vidual vending operators, food and beverage suppliers and others impacted by the rules," NAMA's Government Affairs Division commented. "NAMA is also partner- ing with other national trade associations to address challenges within the rule, and has hosted the FDA at member locations to provide them with further education on the industry." The FDA has provided the email address CalorieLabelingVend@ fda.hhs.gov for questions regarding the new rule. NAMA asks that questions for the FDA be reviewed by NAMA before being emailed to the FDA. Email calorie labeling questions to NAMA at edell@vending.org. O NAMA Shares Update, Guidance On Calorie Disclosure Rules Ronnoco Coffee Acquires U.S. Roasterie ▶ Huron Capital Partners announced that its portfolio company Ronnoco Coffee, LLC has acquired the assets of Des Moines, IA-based U.S. Roasterie, Inc. Howard Fischer, U.S. Roasterie president and CEO, will remain in his current posi- tion for at least two years. Fischer confrmed that nothing will change for cur- rent customers. "All blends, packaging and outstanding customer service will remain the same," he said. Google Purchases Softcard Technology ▶ Google has acquired technology and patents from Softcard, the joint mobile venture between AT&T; Mobility, T-Mobile USA, Inc. and Verizon Wireless. Google announced, "Under this relationship, the Google Wal- let app, including the tap and pay functionality, will come pre-installed on Android phones (running KitKat or higher) sold by these carriers in the U.S. later this year." 365 Retail Markets Acquires AirVend ▶ 365 Retail Markets has announced that it is celebrat- ing the addition of AirVend into its family of products. "We formally acquired [Air- Vend] and are taking steps to merge our teams, our prod- ucts and our operations, to the betterment of both of our customer bases," said Erin Calkins, product specialist at 365 Retail Markets. NAMA announced that the FDA will release a compliance guide on its calorie disclosure rule. Avanti Buys BYNDL ▶ Avanti Markets has purchased mobile transac- tion service provider BYNDL for an undisclosed sum. Lori Salow Marshall will become president of both BYNDL, which is remaining an independent entity, and Avanti Markets. Jim Brinton will be CEO of both compa- nies. Marshall explained the sale as mutually benefcial. BYNDL's mobile services will be available to the industry as a whole and the company will continue to work with other vending technologies, payment processors and micro market partners. Canteen Introduces enr.G Wellness Vender ▶ Canteen announced the launch of enr.G, a fresh, well- ness-focused vending alterna- tive. The enr.G's product line can pair with an existing cli- ent-branded wellness platform and comes in three vend- ing machine color options. Initially, the enr.G line will include a full snack machine plus a combination snack and beverage machine. Every enr.G snack and beverage includes at least one of the following dietary attributes- all-natural, organic, gluten- free, non-GMO, vegan, Kosher and Choice Plus. 10 Automatic Merchandiser VendingMarketWatch.com March 2015