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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tors to get the exact favor or type of product they want. Customer loyalty is low to service, but exceptionally high to the product. Micro markets certainly alleviate some of these challenges, but it's not a realistic option for many locations. Operators are trying to fgure out how to provide the same level of product customization for vending customers using VMS data as well as better com- municate with consumers. Operators are trying QR codes, mobile apps, video screens, social media and loy- alty cards that work at a vending machine to engage the consumer in a more positive way. Another diffculty operators are reporting is fnding and retaining ded- icated employees. Across the foodser- vice industry, especially restaurants, companies are feeling the squeeze of not having enough quality employees. Specifcally in vending, micro market and OCS, operators talked about the diffculty in fnding and keeping good route drivers as one of their top con- cerns. Hiring the correct employees to deal with new micro market business was a close second. For most operators, vending is a core business that is relatively fat. Many revenue increases in vend- ing have been a result of better cost control and eliminating unproftable locations and products, all through technology. This has moved VMS and similar business management solu- tions from good-to-have to must-have. The strongest segment in 2015 was micro markets, which represented a record percent of revenue compared to other services offered. Micro mar- kets are poised for continued growth for the foreseeable future, furthering the gap between operators that do offer it and those that don't. As for new segments, operators are diver- sifying into many different areas, expanding offerings and the types of locations they service, all of which will continue into 2016. CHART 14: CANDY/SNACK/CONFECTION MACHINE ESTIMATE TOTALS BY CATEGORY AND SUBCATEGORY % SALES CHANGES 2015 2015 REVENUE % SALES OF TOTAL REVENUE CHANGE UNIT CHANGE CANDY $2.2B 27.8% 10.6% 8.1% Chocolate 1.4B 2.8 7.6 5.0 Non-chocolate 550.1M 3.9 16.7 15.7 Bag candies 42.0M 0.1 32.9 19.6 Gum & mints 157.0M 0.3 7.3 -1.5 SNACKS $5.7B 72.2% 15.3% 12.3% Bagged snacks 95.9M 1.2 2.3 2.7 wafers, cookies, nuts, brownies, pretzels, fruit clusters, bagged gum, yogurt bites Chips 2.8B 35.3 13.9 11.4 Cookies & crackers 849.2M 10.7 6.2 4.1 Food snacks 87.7M 1.1 27.7 24.9 Cheese sticks, meat sticks, meat bites, Nutritious snacks 386.6M 4.9 31.7 26.4 Bean chips, granola, fruit snacks, organic items, specialty crackers/pastries/cookies, dark chocolate, bars, dried fruit, hummus Nuts and seeds 205.3M 2.6 20.0 13.3 Pastry 1.3B 16.4 19.7 18.3 Cupcakes, coffee cake, pies, honey buns, brownies, doughnut, muffins, danish, pastries DRINKS $8.4B 39.8% 15.9% 11.2% Energy drinks 374.5M 4.5 27.4 27.5 Non-carbonated, 12oz 63.4M 0.8 14.3 12.9 Soda, 12oz 1.8B 21.9 10.6 4.7 Energy drinks, 16-20oz 135.6M 1.6 27.8 25.7 Non-carbonated, 16-20oz 1.5B 18.1 25.4 22.7 Soda, 16-20oz 4.5B 53.2 13.5 10.1 Source: Extrapolated from data courtesy of Cantaloupe Systems, Inc. Methodology The Automatic Merchandiser State of the Vending Industry Report is compiled from a survey sent to vending operators in Spring as well as operator interviews. The 2016 report is based on nearly 400 responses to the survey, close to a 4 percent response rate, and includes full- service as well as small-size snack and soda operators. NUTRITIOUS SNACKS showed substantial gains in both revenues and sales in 2015. 36 Automatic Merchandiser VendingMarketWatch.com June/July 2016