AVA
Expert
Viewpoint Vending
AUTOMATIC VENDING ASSOCIATION
www.ava-vending.co.uk Tel: 01494 568 960
This month, Jonathan Hilder, chief executive of the AVA, visits University College Birmingham to see what innovative vending products students have created
One of the key topics that is constantly on the agenda at the AVA is the issue of healthy vending. The main points of the debate include how to make healthier vending products, how to encourage more vending operators to supply these products and how to educate the customer and the end consumer that vending is moving with the times and can provide a variety of snacks, meals and drinks that are not only tasty, but good for you too.
It is one thing to say this, however we need to be able to act on it too, and vending operators and consumers must be given viable healthy alternatives from which to choose to avoid menu fatigue. This is one of the reasons why the AVA set the challenge to the fi nal year Culinary Arts Management students at University College Birmingham (UCB) to create a range of innovative, healthy vending products that could be brought to market. The students were tasked to work in teams to create a healthy vending solution for the specifi c area of the vending market assigned to them. These included business and industry, education, healthcare, leisure, staff catering and transport.
This month I was honoured to be invited
back to UCB, where the students presented their fi nal products. The range, skill and imagination the students had applied to the creation of these concepts was outstanding. Whilst these students studied a range of catering skills, a number of them told me that having completed the Culinary Product Development module they were now inspired to consider product development as a career. Looking around the exhibition it really did feel as though I was glimpsing the possibilities that these individuals could bring to the future of vending.
I was particularly impressed to see the lengths that some of the them had gone to in order to address allergens (another key issue at the AVA!), with the leisure group designing an energy boosting vegetable pasty where the pasty dough was made from caulifl ower, making it gluten and nut free. Another wheat, dairy and gluten free product was an Asian-style noodle dish designed for the healthcare market.
There was also a gourmet hot dog using locally sourced sausages for staff catering; a sweet and savoury snack box for customers in business and industry, designed to keep energy levels up between meals; a BBQ pulled pork pastry for transport vending in airports and stations; and hot pepperoni subs
for hungry students in the education sector. Not only did the students come up with a range of really delicious tasty recipes and products, they also presented their ideas for branding, packaging and marketing activities, which included active social media and their own websites. The feedback from some of the students was that this had been the highlight of their year. The fi nal challenge takes place at AVEX at the NEC on 12th
June, where the students will
present their creations for judging in front of a panel of industry experts, including Tim Franklin-Heys, head of the culinary team for Unilever Food Solutions. If you would like to come along and see what these talented young students have created, you can still register for free tickets for AVEX by visiting
www.avexshow.com. See you there!
Automatic Vending Association Tel: 01494 568 960 Web:
www.ava-vending.co.uk
Follow us on Twitter – @vendingava
Join us on LinkedIn – The Automatic Vending Group
June 2013
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