NEWS | Industry Updates Growth continues for East


Europe water coolers The East European water cooler market edged up towards 2.0 million units installed at the end of 2015, a rise of just 0.5% on 2014, according to a new report from specialist consultancy Zenith International.


Water sales volumes through bottled water coolers and


dispensers/pumps also increased by 0.5% to 2.2 billion litres. The share of water sales through coolers is now 12.0% of total bottled water consumption, compared with just 4% in 1999. In 2015, Russia remained East Europe's biggest cooler market


with 41.1% of units and 43.4% of volume, followed by Poland and Ukraine. These countries represent the top three in both the bottled and dispensers/pumps segments. "2015 growth was lower than in 2014 and some countries fell


back, due to economic and political pressures causing more caution by businesses and consumers," commented Zenith market analyst Iuliana Boda. "Russia achieved the greatest number of total new unit placements, with 19,000 more installed over the course of 2015, but that was less than half the total for 2014. Romania came second with nearly 6,500 and Bulgaria third with over 1,500. Ukraine's numbers contracted by 7.4%. Five other countries - Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovenia - also saw declines in 2015." Nevertheless, Zenith forecasts that the total market will reach


close to 2.2 million units by 2020. Point of use is expected to be the fastest growing segment.


Highland Spring to invest £16m


at Perthshire site Producer of naturally sourced bottled water Highland Spring has plans for a major factory extension to accommodate a new production line at its Blackford site in Perthshire. The business will invest £16m as part of its commitment to


doubling production capacity over the next 12 months, following rise in the UK’s consumption of bottled water. This move follows a 9.4% year-on-year growth in the last year for


the group, against a category average of 8.7%. Highland Spring has seen. Chief executive Les Montgomery commented: “UK consumption


of bottled water drinks rose 8.2% in 2015 to reach almost 3.3 billion litres, with a retail value in excess of £2.5bn. We have great confidence in the underlying strength of the category and our investment plans to drive long-term sustainable growth. “The factory extension will increase capacity at our main Blackford


site by 50%, ensuring we are perfectly placed to meet demand for bottled water as consumers switch from sugary soft drinks to healthier hydration choices. The plain water market is expected to reach in excess of 4bn litres by 2020, and the total water drinks market will stand at volume sales of almost 4.8bn litres. “This is set to be another year of


double-digit growth and we’re currently out-performing the market.”


Transition from ‘recyclable’ to ‘recycled’, says Simply Cups


Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s War on Waste campaign hit the headlines in April, exposing how many paper cups are used in the UK and how few are being recycled. This, together with subsequent media storm, has highlighted the systemic failures in our current approach to recycling. Peter Goodwin, co-Director of Simply Cups, argues that collaboration is the only way to resolve this issue: “Through Hugh’s campaign,


it has become abundantly clear that consumers were unaware of how little of their food packaging is actually being recycled and are now expecting swift action to address the issue. This means that all sections of the food service industry, including suppliers, retailers and the waste industry, need to work more collaboratively to ensure that packaging is actually being ‘recycled’ or ‘composted’ rather than accepting a claim that a product could be ’recyclable’ or ‘compostable.’” To date, paper cup recycling solutions have revolved around the separation of the paper and the plastic lining, which has proved to be


challenging from a commercial and operational perspective. In the last six months, Simply Cups, together with recycling specialists Nextek and ECO product design and manufacturer ashortwalk, has developed a new durable polymer using both the paper and plastic content of paper cups. Trials have shown that the composite is much stronger than conventional plastics and can be readily moulded into wide variety of products. Critically this means that paper and plastic content no longer needs to be separated in order for the cup to be recycled, significantly


reducing reprocessing costs whilst also requiring a far less resource-intensive process than by pulping. Dan Dicker, MD of ashortwalk says: “We forget that nothing is truly recycled until it has been


re-used. Using the new NextCupCyle polymer, we can now develop new and functional products that not only promote re-use, but will also help educate, inspire and, most importantly, instill belief that recycling systems work. These products also create a demand for used cups that drive the circular economy and will enable us to reinvest back into the growth and expansion of the project,” added Dan. Peter Goodwin calls for the industry to work together: “Only through greater collaboration


and direct action will we create transparent and commercially viable solutions to recover and recycle food service packaging. There is now no excuse for businesses and retailers not to be able to recycle their paper and plastic cups. We offer a nationwide service with direct collection for large users of cups and even a post-back service for smaller ones, all with a guarantee that their cups will be recycled into new functional products”.


8 | vendinginternational-online.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32