Choosing a Vending Machine
or Coffee Machine
Whether you want a vending machine for 5 – 500 staff in the office, a main reception area, a service counter, staff breakout area, factory floor, school or sports centre there are a host of machines now available to choose from. This page seeks to help you decide the machine that’s right for you. We have broken this down into two main areas, Hot Drinks Vending Machines and Snack and Food Vending Machines.
Hot Drinks Vending Machines
Deciding what’s right for you:
1. How much do I need to spend on a vending machine?
Your machine will need to cope with the demand required. In vending we ask the following questions to help the process of elimination of machines to find you the right machine.
How many people will be using the machine on average per day?
How many drinks will each person have from the vending machine per day?
2. Is the machine going to be free vend / will staff be paying for drinks / or is the requirement that you want the machine to do both?
Not all vending machines have the facility for pay and free vend but most do. All coin operated vending machines give you the facility to set your own prices. We also provide cashless systems and tokens for staff to use with various sets ups on re-charging staff keys etc.
3. Do I need a vending machine plumbed or not plumbed in?
This does depend on the demands required of the machine. We supply machines with both options. Larger machines require plumbing in. Machines built for tank fill normally supply 20-30 drinks if not plumbed in. We also supply tank and pump kits that will serve an additional 100 drinks before the need to refill thus eliminating the need for plumbing in for the small-medium sites.
4. What about water filters?
Having a filtration system fitted will in most cases prolong the life of your machine and improve the quality of the drink served. For bean to cup machines it is mandatory to have a filtration system fitted otherwise manufacturer warranties are invalid. Fresh Brew machines generally will serve you better with a filter fitted. Information on our filters Rik – link to water doctor page please
5. What are the options on vending:- with a cup / no cup / plastic or paper cup / china cup or mug?
This does depend on the machine you are considering. Most vending machines – if they can vend cups – offer a no-cup option thus enabling you to use your own cup / fill a jug. If you are looking at In-Cup vending machines the drink comes to you in the cup and thus would not be an option.
6. Are there vending machines that serve Hot and Cold drinks?
The simple answer is yes. Those that offer cold drinks as well will normally offer the option for fizzy, carbonated drinks. You will need a machine that has a chiller option.
7. What service and maintenance options are there and what should I consider?
Go to our Installation and Maintenance (Rik Link Please) for the options open to you. Generally the more complex / expensive the machine the more it costs to maintain. Where there is no mixing of ingredients ( eg filter coffee server machines, POD / Sachet vending machines and In-cup vending machines there is no mixing of ingredients and are easier to look after and maintain. See Types of Machines Available below for more details. Any vending machine with a filter will cost more as the filters need to be replaced after a period of time.
8. What about the types and ranges of drinks I want from the machine?
You have now reached the stage where you need to refer to The Types of Machines Available
Types of Machines Available
1. In-Cup Vending Machines
How they work:
The ingredients come to you in the cup, you put the cups in the machine and that’s it. These are very hygienic and simple to maintain. Some have side pods for sugar sticks and stirrers whilst the larger machines vend sugar. The smaller machines offer optional plumbing
Drinks and drink prices
Link Vending offer most leading brands; Nescafe, PG, Tetley, Cadburys, Douwe Egberts etc. Knorr soups, cold drinks and a creamy Nescafe cappuccino also form part of the range. Prices for In-Cup drinks generally fall between ingredient machines ( less cost ) and POD / Sachet machines ( more expensive ). Expect to pay around 10p per cup or more.
2. Ingredient Vending Machines
The ingredient comes to you loose. You fill canisters in the machine. In most instances the more canisters the vending machine has the more drink option there are. Slightly more maintenance than in-cup vending machines although many now come with self cleaning programmes.
Drinks and drink prices
These machines are excellent for the now popular espresso, cappuccino, mocha, latte etc. Link Vending provides you with ingredients from around 5p per cup. We offer the well known brands together with budget buy brands to help maximise your returns where applicable
3. Fresh Brew Vending Machines
The main difference here to ingredient machines is that the machine will serve either a freshly filtered coffee or tea or both. In many cases it is best to have a filter on the machine for a better quality of drink. With many of these machines a filter roll is used; much like filters on a filter coffee maker. These do get used up and have to be replenished.
Drinks and drink prices.
These machines are excellent for the now popular espresso, cappuccino, mocha, latte etc. The machine brochures will show you drink options. Link Vending provides you with ingredients from around 5p per cup. Filter coffees and teas do cost more than normal ingredient equivalents.
4. Bean to Cup Vending Machines
These are also known as Bean2Cup or B2C machines. As the name implies fresh ground coffee beans are available within the scope of the machine. Serving Fresh Ground Coffee brings the aroma of the coffee house to your office or workplace. These machines still have the canisters to fill as per Instant and Fresh Brew vending machines.
Drinks and drink prices
These machines will serve all the popular espresso, cappuccino, mocha, latte drinks and more. The machine brochures will show you drink options. Fresh ground coffee bean prices start from around 6.3p per cup depending on your chosen brand
5. POD / sachet drink systems
The drinks come to you in Pods / Sachets / Filter-packs. These are the various terminologies used to describe them. Link Vending offers the Flavia Vending Machines that probably have the lowest call out rate for problems with a machine. In fact we think they are so good we have a complete section dedicated to Flavia. For the small office Flavia SB100 ( 1 – 15 staff ) you couldn’t ask for a better machine.
Drinks and drink prices
The sealed filter-pack contains a single portion of the finest Filter Coffee or Leaf Tea with options on cappuccino and more. The machines deliver a freshly filtered real coffee or leaf tea in a matter of seconds with a guaranteed fresh drink every time. Serving fresh filter coffees and fresh leaf teas prices do come out more expensive than the run-of –the-mill drinks.
6. Filter Coffee Machines
Machines where you want to fill a jug of coffee. Ideal for meeting rooms, dinner parties, cafes, restaurants and having coffee “on-the go”. Fresh coffee is filtered through a filter normally giving you 10-12 cups plus of coffee. Our fresh filtered coffee range is expanding all the time. We have lots of new products here with a complete new range of Nairobi Coffees.
Snack and Food Vending machines – including non-food
Deciding what’s right for you:
Some general pointers that will get you started
1. What do you want to vend?
A. Snacks and Crisps
B. Confectionary
C. Cans
D. Plastic Bottles
E. Tetra Packs
F. Glass bottles
G. Fresh Food sandwiches etc
H. Fresh Food yogurts and small deserts
I. Fresh Food Salads in bowls and plates of
J Fresh Food ( dinners to warm up in a microwave )
K Frozen Deserts
L DVD’s
M Sports equipment for example swimwear and goggles
N Other non-food items
2. Where to go on our website
Snack Vending Machines ABCDE
Snack Can and Bottle Vending Machines ABCDEF
Food Vending Machines ABCDEFGHIJ
Custom Vending Machine LMN
3. Information on our snack and food vendors
Snack machines
These can be configured to most customer requirements. For example if you wanted 6 shelves of crisps or you wanted an additional shelf of confectionary. The brochure downloads will show standard configurations. Different to standard configurations normally mean you pay slightly more for the revised shelves as these have to be ordered and done at the manufacturers.
Chilling
Most snack machines have a model option to serve cans and plastic bottles on the bottom shelves. These shelves are often cooler than the top shelves for crisps and snacks
Dual Temperature Machines
These machines are designed to vend food items ( that need to be chilled ) at around 5°C whilst the top half is at temperatures around 15°C ( individual brochures will provide specific )
Can and Bottle Vendors
Many of these vending machines can vend cans and bottles in the same machine. Some of these are ideal as bottled water vending machines.
Glass Vending Machines
These machines have an internal lift mechanism. You make your selection, the lift selects the item ( from anywhere within the machine) takes and drops at the selection point. These will vend just about anything on any shelf.
Food Vending Machines
As the name implies the whole unit is at a temperature of around 5°C to enable fresh foods to be served on any shelf. These machines are of the carousel type and can take plates etc with various configurations and options
DVD and other NON Food Vending Machines
Machines can be configured to take many variations of product including stationary. We will need height, width and depth of product to identify the best machine for you.
Combination machines for a complete vending solution
If you are looking for a complete snack and drink solution go to our Total Vending Solutions page. This page seeks to show you combinations of Hot and Cold Drink and Snack options for you. If you do not see what you are looking for here please contact us to see if we can help.
4. The Environment and Quality of Product
Link Vending only trades with leading manufacturers thus ensuring the most reliable machines, with excellent support and back up services and of course the key ingredient – the quality of drink. These manufacturers of vending machines are proven leaders in the field who are environmentally aware. As part of our customer services charter we endeavour to highlight to our customers machines and products that improve the quality of our environment on an ongoing basis
5. Leading Vending and Coffee Machine Manufacturers that we use
N&W Global Vending
Coffee Tec including Azkoyen and Wittern
Sanden Vendo
Crane Merchandising Systems
Darenth MJS
Etna
AA First
Bravilor Bonamat
Mars Drinks – Flavia ( a division of Mars)
Link Vending is here to serve you. Once you’ve had a read through please feel free to contact us to discuss your requirements.
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FREEPHONE 0800 3891058
