The aim of this change is to offer a better description of the core market place for this popular hot drinks machine and single serve system, while at the same time allowing the brands for tea, coffee and chocolate to keep their identity and be promoted individually where appropriate.

However Mars Drinks UK decide to market their brands, the fact remains that this system offers some of the highest quality and widest range of  hot drinks available in the market today. Developed predominantly as an office coffee machine with ease of use, simple cleaning and reliability in mind, it does not stop there because the Flavia ® Creation 400™ also supplies the finest leaf teas plus herbal and green teas together with speciality drinks including an authentic layered cappuccino, latte and hot chocolate at the push of a button.

In today’s tough market conditions, being able to connect and engage with your staff is important and something as simple and low cost as a great cup of tea or coffee can help improve efficiency and wellbeing within the office.

Great office tea and coffee does not need to cost the earth! Mars Drinks Office Connections can help.

KSV are a Platinum Partner for the FLAVIA drinks system and are proud to distribute the full range ALTERRA COFFEE ROASTERS, THE BRIGHT TEA CO AND GALAXY from MARS Drinks UK Limited.

Written by: Richard from KSV.

MARS DRINKS OFFICE CONNECTIONS. is a post from: KSV News

Following the devastating earthquake in Christchurch last year the only Marmite factory in the country closed for major repairs back in November and is not scheduled to resume production any earlier than July. The term “love it or hate it” often applied to Marmite confirms the clear taste divisions that exist with such a strongly flavoured product and I guess for some it is almost addictive.

With several months before production is resumed supermarkets in some parts of New Zealand have already run out of Marmite as word “spreads” the risk of panic buying looms large. The manufacturers have appealed to people not to panic buy and hoard the remaining stocks but to consider their fellow Marmite fans. Tips such as only eating Marmite on toast rather than bread as it spreads more thinly when warm or cutting back to once a day are being issued to try and stretch out supplies further but a “black market” for this dark sticky treat is already happening. On-line auction sites in New Zealand apparently have jars at up to NZ$60 being offered.

No real hope with emergency supplies from the UK as the recipe used here is slightly different to that in NZ and it’s all about the taste. Vegemite is still available across NZ but for most the taste is just too different, so neither the UK nor Australia is in a position ease this crisis. On a love it or hate it basis, this is a worrying time for those with a real taste for the product but for the many haters of yeast extract based spreads, some of whom describe the taste as axle grease laced with salt, the whole thing seems a fuss about nothing.

The whole issue stepped up a gear with the NZ Prime Minister complaining about the risk to his breakfast Marmite and rationing across the whole country is predicted any day now. The harsh reality is that “Marmageddon” looms as the stock base just can’t last until July.

Written by:  Colin from KSV

MARMITE ‘MARMAGEDDON’ LOOMS FOR NEW ZEALAND. is a post from: KSV News

Save a Cup, the major provider of collection and recycling services for vending cups and packaging, have in the last 10 days appointed Administrators who are actively seeking a way forward to enable the services they provide to continue. Save a Cup is a key link in the supply chain process to enable the plastic and paper cups, along with drinks sachets from single serve drinks systems consumed in huge volumes in the UK to avoid the standard trade waste route to landfill.

The Flavia Waste-2-Energy scheme relied on Save a Cup to collect filter packs for high temperature energy conversion for electricity generation and although effective, this existed in reality only because of the multiple materials used in the formation of each Flavia sachet – Freshpack. This method of packaging left few options for an environmentally positive supply chain other than the door to door collection of sachets as specific waste.

As part of the Mars Inc. “Path to Sustainability” the first significant change in Flavia packaging has been announced from the USA. The current Flavia sachet – Freshpack design contains multiple layers, including a thin film of aluminium, in its construction and this mix of metals and plastic presented significant recycling challenges. We now have news that the first 100% recyclable Flavia sachet packaging will be feeding into the US market during 2012 with The Bright Tea Company’s English Breakfast Tea and Earl Grey being the first to use a new single layer plastic sachet rather than the three materials used in the current multi-layer design.  The aim is for all Flavia sachets to be 100% recyclable by 2015 with the single plastic used enjoying a second life in alternative products including plastic garden furniture and office stationary.

Written by: Colin from KSV.

FLAVIA DRINKS SACHET – FRESHPACK AND THE PATH TO SUSTAINABILITY FROM MARS INC. is a post from: KSV News

Chocolate bars are a good example where for many products the original thin foil sheet wrapped around the chocolate with a printed paper sleeve slipped over top are now simply sealed into what is in effect just a printed plastic bag. Some two finger Kit Kat bars are still wrapped in foil with a paper sleeve in the traditional way but four finger bars and all Chunky Kit Kat’s now have a clever plastic wrapper designed to mimic the original packaging but that is quicker and cheaper to produce and use. 

For soft drinks the market has also changed over the past decades to reflect advances in packaging design for both convenience and environmental impact. Back in the 1960’s I recall most single serve fizzy drinks were supplied in a glass bottle with a crimped metal cap that required a bottle opener to get at the contents while canned fizzy drinks were much rarer than bottles and again needed  an opener, this time to punch two holes in the top, to access the contents. By the late 60’s the first ring pull cans had been introduced making their use easier than glass bottles, and inevitably cans quickly became more popular,  although with the original design the whole ring and tab detached from the can lid and was often discarded on the floor. I am sure most of us over perhaps 45 years of age can remember many ring pulls with taps attached kicking around almost anywhere you looked outside on the ground!   Ten years later the “pop tab” was introduced which is still the predominant drink can opening method today.  The ring pull now, rather than peeling back a tab and being thrown away, acts as a lever to force a scored tab down into the lid and it is all held as part of the can assembly with no “tab” litter problem. The use of aluminium over steel for can production has increased significantly over time and this is a really cost effective and simple recycle stream compared with plastics.

Meanwhile glass bottles for fizzy drinks very much died a death with the larger “Corona” type bottles that attracted a small cash deposit (5 old pence from memory), being replaced by disposable plastic during the 70’s and a twist top PET bottle being well established with contents around 500ml by the 1980’s. You could expect the plastic bottle to go on from this and “crush” the can market as the big advantage is the bottle is re-sealable to enable the contents to be consumed over time. For a while around the start of the “noughties” it did seem the drinks can was dying out with some EU countries either banning them completely or imposing a levy of around 16pence per can! Over time though the aluminium can has developed a more positive recycling profile than plastic bottles and the design of multi-can packs that sit neatly into home fridges means the classic 330ml can profile is far easier to store and cans now dominate the home drink market. A screw top PET bottle may have some advantage for people on the move but the single serve 330ml can is the proven home consumption favourite.

So whatever your Snackbreak selection and wherever the future of packaging takes us there will be a KSV vending machine to meet your needs.

Written by: Colin from KSV.

SNACK VENDING MACHINES. WHO THOUGHT PACKAGING COULD BE INTERESTING! is a post from: KSV News

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1322167/Warden-tells-mother-feeding-ducks-Dont-feed-white-bread-wholemeal.html

At the time I thought he was quackers and so did many wildlife experts here who said any bread in moderation is just fine, but now I have read that Hendersonville in Tennessee which has the largest concentration of Canadian Geese in the south eastern USA has started installing Vending Machines to dispense healthy floating food pellets to the lakeside wildfowl. There are claims that the bread, crackers and even popcorn that have been their staple diet for years and years of visiting kids are harmful to them with many health problems including malformed wings being recorded. The local parks department are keen as there is projected to be a “healthy” profit from the vending machines half of which will be available for their wildlife conservation work.

However I had to smile at the picture in the USA article with not a vending machine in sight just a mother and child clutching a huge bag of white bread feeding the birds with, as usual, seagulls getting in on the act!

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120215/NEWS/120215004/Hendersonville-adds-vending-machines-feeding-ducks

Here at KSV all our vending machines are aimed purely at the people market, not a duck or fishy protein pellet in sight, and remember KSV can provide a choice of hot drink, food vending or chilled drink solution to all your vending needs. You would be quackers not to seek our expert advice!

Written by Colin from KSV.

A VENDING MACHINE FOR DUCKS IS NOT AS QUACKERS AS IT SOUNDS! is a post from: KSV News