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STATE

THE

INDUSTRY

was snacks, which represented 18.2
percent in 2018. That is a slight drop
from 2017 as a result of the gains in
confection and food categories.
For micro markets specifically,
cold drinks was still the largest category by revenue, contributing 29.8
percent to micro markets revenues
in 2018. Snacks and food products
followed, representing 18.2 percent
and 18.4 percent, respectively. Food,
which is a strong category in micro
markets, did drop in percentage of revenue in 2018 by 2 percentage points.
Those were gained by the ice cream
and frozen products category, which
doubled from 2 percent in micro market revenues to 4.1 percent in 2018.

Coffee services expand
Office coffee service saw the greatest
increase in 2018 of all the services surveyed, growing from 7.3 percent to 9.3
percent of revenues (charts 7C,8). Part
of this growth was in new office and
manufacturing locations adding coffee
service or enhancing existing services
with higher priced options. Another
part was the increase of restaurant
locations (chart 3). More operators
are providing high-quality, private
label coffee to restaurants and cafes
as well as the brewers and brewer
maintenance service.
While pantry service looked to be
flat in terms of percentage of revenue
for 2018, operator comments confirmed this service is growing. The
strength of local businesses and the
need to attract employees and reduce
turnover is aiding operators in growing their pantry service divisions,
which generally include delivering
product to locations that is paid for
by the location. This is a highly tailored service that started with tech
companies and coastal businesses,
but has expanded to the Midwest in
medium or large locations.
All signs point to continued
growth for the industry. Both busi-

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SHARE OF SALES BY SERVICE CATEGORY,
COMBINED SERVICES

CHART 7C:

Vending
Micro Markets
OCS
Water service
Other
Pantry service
Bulk vending
Manual foodservice
Music*
Games*
Janitorial Supplies

2015
54.6%
10.2
6.8
2.0
9.5
2.3
9.1
1.9
3.0
0.7

2016
78.1%
12.9
5.2
1.0
0.7
0.7
0.9
0.3
0.3
0.1

2017
66.2%
15
7.3
4
2.9
1.6
0.2
0
0
0

2018
63.8%
15.8
9.3
2.3
1.4
2.9
1.6
0.8
0.8
0.8
0.5

* The response rate was extremely low resulting in results being swayed by just one or two responses

PROJECTED SALES BY CATEGORY,
IN BILLIONS

CHART 8:

VENDING PRODUCTS
2018 MICRO MARKET PRODUCTS
Vended cold beverages
$4.5(B) Micro market cold beverages
Vended candy
1.8
Micro market candy
Vended other
1.1
Micro market other
Vended food
1.1
Micro market food
Vended hot beverages
0.4
Micro market hot beverages
Vended ice cream/frozen 0.3
Micro market ice cream/frozen
Vended healthy
1.1
Micro market healthy
Vended snacks
2.7
Micro market snacks
Vended confections
1.7
Micro market confections
SERVICES
Vending
Micro markets
OCS
Water service
Manual foodservice
Pantry service
Other
Bulk vending
Music*
Games*
Janitorial supplies

2018
$15(B)
3.7
2.2
0.5
0.2
0.7
0.3
0.4
0.2
0.2
0.1

nesses and consumers are buying
from operators at a higher rate that
shows no signs of stopping. Operators
have added additional locations and
service options in 2018 that benefit
their bottom line. Micro markets
and pantry will drive revenues especially as new technologies allow for
expanded opportunity and a better
user experience.

VendingMarketWatch.com

June/July 2019

2018
$1.0(B)
0.4
0
0.6
0.1
0.1
0.3
0.6
0.2

% CHANGE
2.7(%)
12.5
36.1
-39.9
-51.8
13.6
33.3
-3.65
-

Methodology
The Automatic Merchandiser State of the Industry
Report is compiled from a survey sent to operators
in the spring as well as operator insights and supplier input. It includes small, medium, large and
extra-large full-service operations as well as snack
and soda operators.
Unlike in previous years, the response rate to our
survey was extremely low, just under 1 percent.
As the survey produces the bulk of this report,
trends are likely exaggerated and great care
should be used when comparing numbers from
last year to this year.

http://www.VendingMarketWatch.com

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