News | Industry Updates Vending must keep up with on-the-go sources


Managing director of quality disposables manufacturer and supplier, Herald, Yogesh Patel has warned that vending has to keep in line with high street coffee shops in the products it uses to avoid being left behind. He said: “Awareness surrounding


environmental issues has risen dramatically in the last few years and we are nearing a point where all vending product options will have to qualify as sustainable, on some level, in order to justify their useage. “Arguments around the greater cost


attached to more eco-friendly products have been balanced by surveys and reports which show that consumers are willing to pay more if they know that there is a sustainable reason for any increase in the price of the end product. “It’s critical that vending is not left behind.


It has to keep in line with high street coffee shops and other ‘on the go’ sources, when it comes to the environment, to prevent itself


from becoming obsolete. “The Covid pandemic made space for a


greater environmental debate by making people more aware of their choices, their lifestyles and what they have control of. It’s changed the dynamic and younger generations are finding their voices through environmentally-focused channels. “And it’s not just the younger generations. Consumers, overall, are more educated about the environment and less tolerant of single use plastics and the mis-direction of paper products that contain components that are largely unrecyclable. “We have to meet customer demand in


order to survive. This means respecting the market and delivering the right cups and for those like us, who supply the cups, checking in with our own suppliers and, where possible, choosing to work with those who have a green agenda. “At Herald, our challenge has always been


to respond to the market, while providing as wide a range of goods as possible and maintaining a competitive pricing structure. In order to maintain our footing and stay ahead, we aim to to remove any remaining obstacles relating to cost and choice for the independent vending providers so that providing a green solution is seen to be easy and affordable.”


Simon Black (left), founder and MD at SB Software with Dan Varney, Head of Operations.


responsibility for driving efficien-cy throughout the business, and harnessing the power of Vendmanager. “I have been involved with vending as


far back as I can remember, so I live and breathe the sec-tor. I grew up doing every role there is, hands-on, right up to General Manager” commented Dan. “I then relocated my family from the south coast to Yorkshire specifically to join SB Software, because I knew firsthand the advantages enabled by their technology. And now I am excited to be continuing things further still. For me, successful operations do not stand apart from client success, each stems from the other.”


Simon Black, founder and managing New head of operations at SB Software


SB Software, the makers of management systems Vendmanager (vending) and Coffeemanager (OCS) have announced that Dan Varney will take up the newly created position of head of operations, effective 1 December 2021. Dan joined SB Software in January 2020 as client success manager and has


6 | vendinginternational-online.com


since been responsible for identifying and confirming customer priorities, then delivering and monitoring the associated benefits. Previously Dan was himself a “power


user” of Vendmanager, within the family vending com-pany Revive, based in Salisbury, where he took particular


director expanded: “Everyone at SB Software takes great pride in the technical excellence we deliver – in both software and hardware. I am a software architect myself by trade, so I “know the tools”. But our actual raison d’être is to deliver client benefits through everything we do, day-in and day-out. And to be continually getting better at doing so. For me, that’s operations in a nutshell.” Dan’s new role will include close co-


ordination at both strategic and day-to- day levels across key functions throughout the business, including oversight of technical management, customer support, and account management. He reports directly to Simon Black.


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