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Q: The ‘new’ Wittenborg 9100 range. What’s new about it?
A: Quite a lot, actually. You’re going to need your best bone china…
In fact, the new Wittenborg 9100 range is a ‘first’: it’s the first Wittenborg table-top machine to serve both espresso and fresh-brew tea. That’s right: from the same machine, tea and coffee of the highest standard – customised to your only particular specifications – and all at the touch of a touchscreen.
The innovation that’s enabled this marriage-made-in-heaven is a very smart little brewer…
‘We started designing the brewer from the ground up’, Technical Director Craig Jukes said. ‘It had to be compact; small enough, in fact, to fit into a confined space in a table-top machine.’
Where there’s a will, there’s a way…
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Our ‘very smart little brewer’ is, in fact, a trickle brewer. Our Technical department will give you chapter and verse on what that means, but basically speaking the brewer acts as a kind of tea-strainer, as the water passes through the filter. It’s a truly ingenious piece of equipment by all accounts, but better yet, (from the operator’s point of view), it’s simple to maintain and it’s physically prepared for the tumult of the tea-break.
We introduced it to a sample of our customers at our recent ‘Afternoon Tea’ event in Bilston and their reaction? ‘Is there any more tea, please?’ And whilst that tells you all you need to know, there’s no substitute for a personal taste test…
‘More tea, vicar? Or would you prefer an espresso?’
Now it’s possible to give everyone what they want, thanks to the latest edition of the Wittenborg 9100.
BY DAVE WARD
Hello again
Dave Ward
When I started work I was resigned to the fact that, come hell or high water, on the occasion of my sixty-fifth birthday, my bosses would shake my hand, take my car keys; say ‘thank-you, live long and happily’ – and show me the door.
There was no question and no debate. Come sixty-five, you collected your cards.
But there’s no such thing as ‘retirement’ anymore. The government began to phase out ‘the default retirement’ age at the start of April, 2011 and by October of that year it became illegal for employers to issue the minimum six-month notification for compulsory retirement, using the default retirement age procedure. I wonder how many people reading this will have a clause in their contracts along the lines of ‘your employment will cease on your sixty-fifth birthday’? Totally invalid now…
And seeing as I’m not one to miss an opportunity to highlight some unintended consequences… I’m sure the Government thinks this is a really good idea and I’m broadly in agreement with removing enforced retirement; but… Did HMG think about the massive increase in the cost of insurance, health cover and what have you incumbent in employing someone over sixty-five? I’m sure they didn’t and I’m equally sure that businesses will end-up having to foot the bill.
Since the law changed, if employers want to enforce retirement, their decisions have to be objectively justified. One thing is certain, though: workers can no longer be forced to retire on the grounds of age alone.
So, in reality, Mick, Allan and Dave haven’t technically retired . On the contrary, they’ve resigned and therefore, in my view at least, retirement, as a concept, has been rendered meaningless. I’d like to thank them, personally and on behalf of everybody at N&W, past and present, for their dedication and commitment. They’ll be sorely missed.
Now, with that off my chest, it’s time for me, (with some resignation), to retire to bed… It’s a school night, after all.
Gem Vending is one of the UK’s most celebrated vending operators and the company is demonstrating its determination to stay ahead of the game by trialling two new product offers. What’s more, the machine chosen for the trials is our own Tango.
‘The first of the trials began in November and we’ve branded it ‘Afternoon Tea’, Gem’s Nicola Hill said. ‘The offer is dedicated to cakes and biscuits and it’s shown us which products might be suitable for use in mainstream vending, going forward. It was always going to be a pilot scheme on the run-up to Christmas. The next trial takes place in the New Year, consisting exclusively of ‘healthy’ products. Similarly to ‘Afternoon Tea’, it’s set to do the rounds for three months, ending in April.’
To accommodate the variety of products on offer, which come in all shapes and sizes, Gem has had to adjust the layout of Tango’s spirals. ‘It was a two-fold trial’, Nicola explained. ‘We wanted to see which of these new products proved popular, but we also wanted to check on the viability of re-configuring the layout of the spirals in Tango.
‘That part of the trial has been brilliant’, Nicola said. ‘It’s shown us that we’ll easily be able to change the spirals in some of our existing machines, so that can integrate some of the items that have gone well in the trial into our mainstream offer.
‘The machine looked brilliant’, Nicola said. ‘It’s been in both Education and Manufacturing environments and I must say that it’s been very well received everywhere.’
‘Tango was deliberately designed with this kind of flexibility in mind’, Louise Wardle said. ‘It means that products which wouldn’t ordinarily be suitable for vending machines can now be accommodated. Consequently, the range of products that operators can now consider for inclusion has expanded hugely and incumbent in that are numerous new opportunities for growing a vending business.’
For more information on Tango and its exciting potential to embrace products that are new to vending, please contact your Account Manager. From now on, size doesn’t matter!
How could we survive without the chilling technology we’ve come to take for granted?
Let’s talk about something that’s usually kept locked-up in research labs: magnetic refrigeration. It’s a new technology that substitutes refrigerating gases with solid materials that have magnetic properties.
Basically, it works like this: when exposed to a magnetic field, the materials are magnetised. Conversely, when they’re removed from the magnetic field, they absorb heat and return to their original un-magnetized state; cooling down the surrounding area.
Mambo
The advantages of using solids instead of fluids are many. For starters, it’s better for the environment, because it avoids the possibility of refrigerating fluids leaking. What’s more, the materials used can be recycled. When compared to traditional cooling units, prototypes using the new technology have been shown to be more efficient in terms of energy consumption. They’re also quieter and they could be smaller, too…
The evolution of vending and refrigeration
So what will this mean for us? Will we have smaller devices – even miniaturised devices? Will we inhabit a world served by highly efficient, mini, refrigerated vending machines?
To tell you the truth, it’s too early to tell – but what’s for sure is that advancing refrigeration technology has enabled great progress is the world of vending – at least in our part of it!
Thanks to leading-edge isolated cells and smart temperature controls, our vending machines can offer for sale packed fresh food (that must be kept at temperatures on less that 4°C) in optimum condition.
Mambo,* the new high-capacity model for semi public locations, has flexible temperature management which allows you to control up to 4 separate zones inside the two cells. A real multi shop, capable of dispensing virtually anything – not just food – and to offer people everything they may need in a hurry; from a snack to a complete meal, from a toothbrush to a travel accessory; a phone charger, a set of earphones…
Our drum vending machines such as Festival are equipped with highly efficient cold units. Festival guarantees that food is dispensed in prefect condition. It can dispense a wide range of freshly-made dishes, fruit and yoghurt: it’s like a canteen in a vending machine!
At N&W, Freshness is our middle name; because we believe that eating-out must always be a pleasant and a safe experience.
For more information, please contact your Account Manager.
*NB Please note that Mambo is not yet available in the UK.
By Dave Ward
Hello again.
To be honest, I’m pleased that the time has come once again to contribute my thoughts to the newsletter.
Now, this is a first. I have been known to get a bit grumpy when the deadline approaches and the angsty e-mails encouraging me to ‘get on with it’ start to clutter up my in box. Not this time, though: you see I’ve dragged myself away from trying to complete a Five Year, Medium Term Business Plan. The thing that’s holding me back is that I’m a businessman, not bloody Gypsy Rose Lee!
I can’t speak for her, but I definitely can’t see into the future. There isn’t a single business parameter that I can rely on, not a single commercial reality that’s guaranteed to be the same twelve months from now – let alone in five years!
I’ve never known such uncertainty. Take Brexit for a start. Neither the experts nor the politicians have got a clue what’s coming next. Will it be hard or soft (and what does that mean anyway?)
Then there’s the volatility of the exchange rate which, as an importer, is critical to our decision making. Then there’s the tax environment. Nobody has a clue what’s coming in that area. It’s not exactly a set of circumstances that are conducive to the conducting of business.
There’s uproar in areas that voted ‘Remain’, in which people argue that they are disenfranchised – especially those living in London. What’s next, a bid for the independence of the capital city? It makes you smile that the old Ealing Film, ‘Passport To Pimlico’, might turn out, after all these years, to have been an apocalyptic vision of the future, rather than a comedy based on the utterly unimaginable.
And what about the judiciary getting involved? Should they, shouldn’t they? Will there be a vote in Parliament to ratify (or to capsize) the vote in which the will of the people was clearly demonstrated? Every time you pick up the papers, there’s a plausible argument that espouses a view that’s diametrically opposite to yesterday’s argument, which seemed equally plausible.
So how I’m meant to create a reliable business forecast that’s worth anything more than the paper it’s written on is anybody’s guess. I’m about as likely to succeed as a five year old in a blindfold who’s trying to pin the tail on the donkey.
Confused? Just a bit. I feel like I don’t know what day it is…
Ah well, back to the spreadsheet. And by the way – Happy Easter from all of us at N&W.
London-based operator Cafepoint LLP has won a major contract to supply Tower Hamlets Borough Council with N&W refreshment and snack vending machines. The machines will serve customers at the Town Hall and four other buildings in East London. The contract was won ‘in the face of intense competition’ in a competitive tendering process.
‘We’re delighted to have been awarded yet another large vending contract with a Borough Council’, Cafepoint Director Gary Lewis. ‘They’re important contracts to win, because we’re required to provide a vending and refreshment solution both to council employees and the general public.
‘We spent a lot of time painstakingly identifying the most advanced vending machines in the world to ensure customers enjoy a first-class retail experience’, Gary told us. ‘Hot drinks come courtesy of N&W’s Canto Touch, complete with a full HD touch screen with a visual drinks menu. The product icons are customisable and the machine is ‘fully interactive’. The snack and cold drink machines are also N&W. The Samba Touch Combi boasts a 7″ touch screen, and a ‘basket’ facility, which allows us to offer multi-buy promotions. The customers also have easy access to nutritional information.
‘All the machines are fitted with up-to-date payment technology, including a contactless device that facilitates purchases both by Credit and Debit Card and Smart Mobile pay technology – including Apple Pay and Samsung Pay’, Gary added. ‘The machines have remote management to so we can carry out pre-emptive maintenance to reduce downtime. They also provide real-time machine alerts and information. It means we can constantly monitor product sales and check stock levels, as well as identifying sales hotspots, trends and promotional variance.’
Cafepoint’s innovative refreshment solution has been very well received at all the new sites. ‘The vending offer has been completely re-vamped by the introduction of state-of-the-art machines offering first-class products’ Gary said. There’s a generous selection of ‘healthier’ products available and of course there’s the coffee… We’re serving top-quality, ‘coffee shop’ beverages, created using beans that specially selected for us and roasted in Italy; in smart, 12oz paper cups.’
Our MD Dave Ward said ‘Cafepoint LLP is an extremely innovative company and we’re proud to be working with them on this project. They’re a very professional outfit and their branding on our equipment delivers an excellent showcase for both companies.’
Associated Beverages, based near Stansted Airport, is not a large company by any means. In fact, Vivien Vaerliss, with the help of her team of five part-timers, handles every aspect of the operation: she does the deals, then she installs the machines and by and large, she keeps the customer satisfied.
‘First let me give you the background’, Viv said. ‘I’ve dealt with N&W for 18 years now and they’ve always been very supportive. They get spare parts off on the same day, there’s always someone to talk to you if you have a problem and if they’re busy, they always call you right back.
We are a tiny, tiny, tiny speck-on-the-map vending company
Vivien Vaerliss
‘We are a tiny, tiny, tiny speck-on-the-map vending company and the best we can hope for is to be a thorn in the sides of the Big Boys. We don’t even bid for contracts in schools, hospitals or in local government. Instead, we focus on offices, warehouses; factories, independent coffee shops and arts centres – that kind of customer.
‘One particular customer that’s been with us for 10 years has just undergone a significant expansion. Their new set-up incorporates 18 meeting rooms and 6 staff coffee points.
‘They wanted to up-grade the coffee they offered to their staff and visitors and I immediately thought that the new Koro Max Prime was the ideal machine for them. When N&W gave the Koro Max a facelift and called it ‘Prime’, it just made the whole thing look far more modern. It’s basically the same machine that it’s always been – it’s always been very reliable and it’s always delivered high-quality coffee – but now, it has a nice new hat and coat on and it’s very competitively priced. With Koro Max Prime, I could offer my customer a great solution on a realistic budget.
Koro Max Prime – with a nice new hat and coat on.
‘The thing was, it was the biggest contract we’d ever won. To put it into context, this single order was around five times more than our average annual spend on new machines and what was great for us was the the customer didn’t even consult another company. When I was told that this was because we’d consistently provided such a good service, I was absolutely delighted.’
However, Viv did have one particular worry nagging away at the back of her mind… ‘To tell you the truth’, she said, ‘I was expecting a call from N&W asking ‘how on Earth are you going to pay for it?’ It would have been understandable: I mean, this is 2016, and we’ve only just emerged from a major economic meltdown.’
…Enter our FD, Ray Cox: ‘I had a number of telephone calls with Viv’, he said. ‘Normally, with a company of the size of Associated Beverages, we’d invoice the leasing company and they would pay us. However, on the basis of seeing the acceptance of the deal from the leasing company, I agreed that Viv could invoice them and then subsequently, we would invoice her.
‘We were pleased to help her out’, Ray said,’ because we’ve dealt with Viv for a long time; a number of years. Sometimes you get a feel for the integrity and honesty of a customer. It’s the long-term relationship between us that allowed us to work on that basis.’
N&W were so blooming helpful that I can’t say.
Why N&W? Viv told us, ‘part of it is great equipment. Part of it is reliability. Part of it is because it looks nice; part of it is that it is well priced. Part of it is the back-up you always get from N&W; the support they gave me in terms of making sure I got my highly sought-after machines! They never lost faith in me during the whole ‘will they, won’t they’, sales process and you can’t buy that. If it had been any other manufacturer, I’d have had to take out a mortgage. N&W were so blooming helpful that I can’t say. I am eternally grateful to them for ensuring that the deal could go ahead.
So, there you have it. Any company can talk a good game when it comes to Customer Service, but when push comes to shove, N&W has demonstrated once again that not all machine manufacturers are the same.
*Discover more about Associated Beverage Services Ltd. here
N&W will have more than just market-leading machines on show at Vendex : we’re using our stand to support Technical Manger Ian Douglass’s attempt to raise £10,000 for The Alzheimer’s Society. We’re happy to help and we invite you to join with us. Here’s Ian’s back story…
‘In October 2017, my daughter Abi and I will be traveling to China, for a 6 day trek along the Great Wall. Our aim is to help raise money for the Alzheimer’s society.
Technical Manager, Ian Douglass.
‘Those who know me and my family will be aware that this cruel disease has taken the life of my Father and now my Mother, who was once a strong independent woman, is facing everyday life with Alzheimer’s. As a family we have received exceptional support from the Alzheimer’s Society; from the death of my father, through my mother being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, to them providing her with the support she needs.
‘We’re hoping to raise £10,000 personally, within a group target of £155,000. This disease has no mercy, there is no way to control it, let alone a cure it. This is just our personal story. You can only try to understand this disease, the different ways in which it affects people, tearing their lives apart – and the lives of their families.
‘The Alzheimer’s Society is the UK’s leading dementia support and research charity, available to anyone affected by any form of dementia in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Organisation provides information together with practical and emotional support, to help people get along with dementia as best they can. It also invests in world-class research, with the ultimate goal of defeating the disease for good.
‘The Alzheimer’s Society also campaigns to improve public understanding of dementia and the devastating impact it can have; making sure it’s taken seriously and acted on by the government.
Click on the logo to land on Ian & Abi’s Just Giving page – and thanks!
‘This December, I have a stall on the Christmas market in Dudley I will be raising money with a raffle. Right now, I’m on the lookout raffle prizes and I was hoping that you could help?
‘As usual, I’ll be on the N&W stand at Vendex North and I’m delighted that the Boss has allowed me to load a video about the walk onto a Canto Touch; so you’ll be able to get a real feel for what’s involved.
‘If you’re not going to Vendex, I have a Just Giving page which you can find here. Thanks for taking the time to read this and please be assured that any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.’
James, Oliver and Lewis Kears toast the 9100
OK, we admit it: the most popular attraction of Vendex Midlands back in April will not be on the N&W stand at Old Trafford next month… It’s true: we’re sorry to have to tell you that Louise Wardle will not be selling birthday kisses for charity this time around 😦
(If you missed it, check this out!)
Sharon Gallagher puckers up at the NMM
However, Louise – and the team will be on hand at Vendex North and they’ll be sharing the stand with some the most exciting products the Vending and HoReCa sectors have ever seen.
Vendex North is your chance to get hands-on with both Wittenborg’s cracking new 9100, which offers bean to cup coffee and fresh brew tea, a first for N&W; and the peerless Karisma. Two new machines that are at the very vanguard of technology and performance and that have re-defined the word ‘excellence’.
Karisma: hard at work at Houghwood Golf Club
As if that wasn’t enough to tempt you, our eye-popping Canto Touch Tower will be on duty, alongside a couple of brand-new ‘Prime’ versions of Koro Max and Korinto.
So, no kisses – but so much to embrace!
Come and give technology a cuddle on Stands F28 and F32 and / or join us on 10 November at the inaugural Cafe-Biz Expo. If you’re operating in the HoReCa sector, this new show is not to be missed. Whether you are running a café, coffee shop, canteen, restaurant or fast food takeaway, this show has something for you.
Visitors will experience the best of everything from coffees, teas and syrups right through to machines, equipment and water filtration systems.
The event will take place at the Old Trafford ‘Theatre of Dreams’ stadium in Manchester on November 10 2016 and you’ll find N&W on Stand 4.
Managing in Vending 