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News Costa Express


The Sugar Tax: Taking the Bitter with the Swee t


Jonathan Hart, the Chief Executive of the Automatic


Vending Association (AVA), looks at the recent debate around the sugar tax.


In mid-January, the traditional month of health kicks and diet improvements, the issue of sugar and whether to tax it once again came to the fore. Stories appeared in the media about the proposed introduction of a sugar tax in hospitals. There was also a separate report from Scotland, following the publication of a Food Standards Scotland report, which called for a nationwide sugar tax.


-J


Jeremy Hunt M the major natio


Keen to express the AVA’s views on this matter, I wrote to nal newspapers and to the Health Secretary, P, to outline serious industry concerns about


r, the potential introduction of a sugar tax.


The recent rise in obesity and type 2 diabetes across the UK has been widely attributed to excessive sugar consumption and we agree that the Government and collective stakeholders should address this issue.


moderation is, i well-balanced d


focus.


Product labelling improvements have already made significant hea dway, providing consumers with mor e nutritional information to facilitate effective calorie control and sugar intake. DEFRA recently reported that our average intake of sugar that has been added to food and drink or released through processing dropped by 9.7 per cent between 2011 and 2014.


We are strongly in favour of continued improvements to product labelling transparency and nutritional education as part of a long-term strategy to tackle obesity th promoting behavioural change as opposed to in tape and regulation.


Vending machines offer a vital service at premises


throughout the UK, providing secure, round the clock access to snacks and refreshments in places where staffing is often not an option. A sugar tax would affect the sales of our most popular products at a time when many low sugar products are not selling in large numbers - a double blow for the vending industry.


As I write this, it’s being reported that David Cameron has in fact rejected the sugar tax proposal and will instead use the threat of a levy to pressure companies into reformulating their products to reduce sugar content. r,


troducing red rough


Educating the public about the importance of a healthy, iet where sugary snacks are enjoyed in n our opinion, the most important area of


osta Express continues to prove viability of self-service coffee bars


Costa Express has announced the installation of its 5,000th self- serve coffee bar at Shell Erich-Ollenhauer-Ring, Frankfurt, Germany. This puts Costa Express on track to achieve its target of over 8,000 machines by 2020, demonstrating considerable growth in less than five years since Whitbread’s £59.5 million acquisition of Coffee Nation on 2 March 2011.


Following the acquisition and after extensive re-branding and technological developments, Costa Express has grown at an average of 70 new self-serve machines every month and been able to export the intelligent self-serve coffee concept to international markets, such as The Netherlands and Denmark, which are previously untapped by the Costa Coffee brand.


train stat accessed convenie


The milestone 5000th install proves the consumer demand for the nce of the self-serve format, with the machines easily in a variety of locations including airports, leisure clubs, ions and primarily forecourts a nd convenience stores .


Vendman Provider


software endma n joins the EVA


Vendman has joined the EVA of vending management


as a Direct Member.


Vendman has been expanding its operations in continental Europe, with customers already in France, Germany,


Belgium, Netherlands, and Sweden, and has now joined the EVA in order to understand and network further with the continental European industry. As part of this strategy, Vendman has also exhibited at key vending exhibitions recently, and has plans to attend Venditalia 2016.


Ian Forde, executive chairman Europe, explained, “Vendman is delighted to have joined the EVA. As part of our expansion strategy across Europe we believe the membership of the EVA can help us in achieving our goals through a deeper understanding of the Industry in Europe and the specific needs of individual markets.”


However, it is unlikely that we have heard the last on this issue and it remains to be seen whether other parts of the UK will tak e a different approach .


Erwin Wetzel, the director general of the EVA, warmly welcomed Vendman and stated: “We are glad that Vendman has recognised the advantages of Membership of the only organisation representing vending and OCS at a European-wide level. We look forward to welcoming Vendman at EVA Committees and events where they will be able to meet key industry players in c ontinental Europe. ”


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© Ian Reynolds-Young


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