Federica Diotallevi: Fountains are still a common and popular model in schools for their ease of installation, use and maintenance. The key to the product’s popularity lies in rethinking the public fountain concept and reconsidering its usage and design philosophy, while guaranteeing higher efficiency, quality and hygiene standards than its predecessor.
Nevertheless, we have seen a growth in standalone coolers in this market segment over the years. The fight against child obesity, combined with the awareness campaigns on hydration for children have encouraged the expansion of better-performing models that are able to provide other types of water, such as hot or carbonated water, in addition to traditional cold water.
Federica Diotallevi: Cosmetal’s mains-fed cooler range offers a host of valid alternatives for schools. The most popular are the metal, skinplate or steel models that are considered stronger and more suitable.
We recently launched the new Niagara 50 SL model on the market, which, in compliance with the guidelines for schools published by the Health and Education Trust in the UK, combines the need for strength with performance.
Models for school must have a high chilling capacity to avoid queues and pupil frustration.
Federica Diotallevi: Mains-fed coolers are more widespread in schools for a series of reasons, including the need to have water that’s always immediately available and free of charge.
Federica Diotallevi: Products for primary and secondary schools often have some functions blocked, such as continuous dispensing, to stop children from using them incorrectly.
Federica Diotallevi: We don’t have a client specialised in this segment. The supply of coolers to schools, and more generally to educational establishments, accounts for a significant percentage of business for many of our clients. We are proud to have contributed, with the collaboration of our distributors, to spreading the habit of drinking more frequently and healthily in many types and levels of schools throughout Europe.
Worth mentioning as one of the most significant examples is the recent cooperation between the distributor Cosmetal H20 in Rome and the education department of Latina for the provision of Niagara to all the schools in the province; or the regular provision of Niagara and Jclass water dispensers in schools by the prominent German distributor Revos Watercooler in response to the Donald report, issued by the German Research Institute for Child Nutrition, on the positive effects of proper hydration among young people.
Federica Diotallevi: Lately, schools have not only equipped themselves with coolers to encourage their students to drink more water, but have also discovered the efficiency and ecology of these products.
Professional water dispensers such as Niagara are becoming a frequent alternative to bottled water, to facilitate management and improve the efficiency of the service in school canteens.
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