Westomatic’s marketing manager, Mark Rhodes, said: “Due to the current economic situation, many office workers appear to be shunning their daily outing to the local coffee shop in favour of ‘stay in’ office coffee. Many of our customers report an increase in sales of Prelude table-top machines, with speciality drinks such as latte, mochaccino and cappuccino proving especially popular.
“It could be that table-top machines are challenging the habitual migration to the high street coffee shop, and also traditional, large vending machines, as we’ve noticed a trend in modern city-based workplaces away from large machines towards our small table-top model.”
Westomatic has also seen a rise in interest in its Coffee Tower concept – a custom-built unit that houses the Prelude table-top machine and takes it into a new retail setting. According to Mark Rhodes, the success of this could also be due in part to the recession: “Shoppers and commuters are possibly being more choosy with how they spend their cash, and are opting to buy premium-quality, cafe-style drinks at low prices from a vending machine, in preference to the high street coffee shops.
“Despite the economic downturn, this is a real shot in the arm for vending, especially at a time when high street coffee chains such as Coffee Republic and Starbucks are struggling.”
Source: Westomatic
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