Bean to cup coffee machines; there better choice

BEAN TO CUP COFFEE MACHINES; THERE BETTER CHOICE

If you speak to any self-confessed “coffee connoisseur” they will exclaim the virtues of bean to cup coffee machines to produce true barista style, coffee shop quality hot drinks. Many businesses will install a bean to cup coffee machine into their offices, believing they enhance the corporate image. However this is a fallacy! Find out the reality of bean to cup coffee.

 1 – “Bean to Cup produces the freshest quality coffee”

Reality - Coffee beans begin to go stale after just 3 days! Therefore if you fill up your bean hopper on Monday morning and don’t drink it all before Wednesday, your coffee will lose its freshness and subsequent drinks will taste bitter. Coffee beans themselves can also vary in quality reducing the consistency of the taste of coffee produced.

 2 – “Bean to Cup is the only way to get an authentic espresso and coffee shop style specialty drinks.”

Reality – True espresso needs to have water passed through the ground coffee at 9 bar pressure – this is what creates the crema. Most bean to cup coffee machines do not use 9 bar pressure, instead the water is drip fed through the coffee in much the same way a filter coffee machine does.

Most bean to cup machines are only able to use 2 types of beans max; therefore not offering a complete range to cover individual taste preferences. Even though they may use fresh milk to make Cappuccinos and other specialty drinks most don’t offer Tea and Chocolate

 3 – “Bean to Cup Coffee Machines are a stylish and cost effective addition to our office?”

Bean to cup machines are noisy due to many of moving parts inside including bean hopper, grinder, brewer etc.  The more moving parts a machine has the more chance there is of something going wrong. The average bean to cup machine breaks down 4 times a year. This unreliability increases the cost of service cover per machine and leaves your staff without drinks.

The number of service calls has a direct relationship to the overall maintenance of the machine. The moving parts within a bean to cup machine all require a weekly deep clean to remove the buildup of coffee grounds and residue. A leased machine should have the deep clean treatment incorporated into the rental costs as general maintenance. If not this cost is usually recouped through a lack of quality service and subsequent machine failures and service callouts.

Why not check your machine? Run a rinse cycle and the water should come out crystal clear! If not that water is going into your drinks!

Of course there will always be those who wish to have a bean to cup machine despite the realities and practicalities. However it is now possible to get the range and quality of coffee shop drinks, using freshly ground ingredients, from the Flavia Creation coffee machine designed for commercial environments.

Before investing in a coffee machine for your office, it’s worthwhile to have demonstration and even taste the great tasting drinks from the Flavia machine, find out how they compare to bean to cup?

For your tasting click here

See Flavia machine on-line

UK Vending Ltd

Incentives work when made into sensible offers for sensible people

Incentives work when made into sensible offers for sensible people – this has worked for UK Vending Ltd for the past fifty profitable years in business

It is astounding how so few people realize two things:

1. Incentives pay, when used wisely.
2. If you use them all the time you cheapen your brand.

Why do they pay? Because generally you get all the people you would have got anyway – plus a few you wouldn’t have and the extra ones convert into customers at much the same rate as the others.

Victor Ross, Chairman of Reader’s Digest once said: “I have never seen a relevant incentive fail to pay for itself.”

If you’re not trying incentives, do.

If you are, test alternatives (it may make a huge difference).

The first question is obvious but often ignored: why do incentives work?
There are three reasons.

1. They overcome fear – of being sold something the prospect doesn’t need or can’t afford.

2. They overcome laziness.

3. They give an excuse for trying you.

For all these reasons they should be prominent.

Always describe your incentive, and say what it’s worth. If it costs nothing, it’s worth nothing. The more desirable it sounds, the more replies you’ll get. The more it’s worth or the greater the perceivable value, the more people want it.

Try more than one incentive. You can have one for replying, one for replying within 14 days, one for buying two or buying the luxury version, trying another product or service or recommending a friend.

Try a few things people might lose – a threat, if you like. It may work even better. In fact studies suggest it does based on the ‘bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush’ principle or ‘fear of loss is greater than desire to gain’.
• They have to buy by a certain date, or on a certain day.
• There are only so many left.
• It’s a limited edition.
• It’s restricted to certain privileged customers.
People are cynical. They think the cost comes out of the product. Always say why you’re being so nice.
• As a reward for doing something.
• To encourage them to try.
• Because “we find it’s the cheapest way to get new customers”.
• Because it’s our centenary.
What makes a good incentive?
• The Golden Rule: add value, rather than cheapening the brand.
• A free gift adds value; repeated discounts cheapen your brand.
• Discounts are better for acquiring customers, or rewarding them.
• Use them sparingly.

Martin Button is the Managing Director of UK Vending Ltd, Britain’s longest serving vending company. UK Vending Ltd (UKV) is a national supplier of prestige vending products and a provider of unique financial packages supporting UKV sales. UKV is a family owned business started some fifty years ago by Martin’s father John. It was the first vending company anywhere in the world hosted on the internet when most had not yet heard of the World Wide Web. One of Google’s ‘naturals’, UKV had an online shop before Amazon or Ebay. UKV had a successful background in email marketing before most companies had begun to understand its power. Imaginative marketing coupled with excellent staff recruitment and management, planning and customer service may be key to UKV’s long-term success in this competitive market. However, sheer business savvy and insight is what makes it work.

ukvending.co.uk

UK Vending are pleased to announce that they will be distributing ALTERRA COFFEE ROASTERSTM coffees for the FLAVIA® machine.

Flavia Alterra Coffee UK Vending

The MARS Drinks range now comprises of ALTERRA COFFEE ROASTERS^TM coffee, THE BRIGHT TEA CO.^TM teas and GALAXY^® hot chocolate, offering more than 25 combinations of premium coffees, cappuccinos, lattes, mochas, espresso, fresh leaf teas and hot chocolate.  UK Vending are very proud to distribute these for the FLAVIA^® machines.

“UK Vending supplies to over 10,000 customers, who will certainly enjoy the full flavour of these exciting new coffees” say Martin Button, Director.

See New Range

Welcome to the UKV TukTuk

Welcome to the UKV TukTuk as it joins our promotional team this summe

UK Vending Flavia Tuk-Tuk

r (2010) across London and the South-East. Fully fitted with the latest Flavia machines we could be dispensing FREE FLAVIA HOT DRINKS outside your workplace.

If you wish to enjoy some of the 30+ fabulous drinks from Flavia and UKV why not email us your address and phone number indicating suitable dates and we will see if we can bring this fun vehicle to you?

Remember – this offer is strictly on a first come first served basis so don’t delay – invite the TukTuk and friends today.

PS – even if we cannot attend, your details will be entered into the UKV Summer Prize draw for a FREE FLAVIA FUSION HOT DRINKS VENDOR for home or office. See our website for details – www.ukvending.co.uk.

UK Vending Ltd has just announced a new ‘Scrappage Scheme’

UK Vending Ltd has just announced a new ‘Scrappage Scheme’ which means that if you have a vending machine or coffee machine that is over the age of 5 years you can trade it in for a new vending machine and receive a discount of £200.00 off the list price of the new machine*.

Find out about how it works »

At UK Vending Ltd we want to make the scheme as simple as possible for our customers. We will help you through the process and ensure everything runs smoothly when acquiring your new vending machine.

With an exceptional range of finance offers** currently available at UK Vending Ltd in addition to the ‘Scrappage Scheme’ incentive, there has never been a better time to replace your vending machine.

Find out about UK Vending financing »

Your new FLAVIA drinks machine wil be…

Energy efficient
Our latest vending machines will reduce your energy consumption and save money.

Reliable
Replacing your old vending machine will save you time and money and will come with the astonishing UKV ‘No quibble’ Guarantee.

Convenient
Just enough water is heated for a few hot drinks at a time. These energy savings aren’t just better for the environment, they’ll save your business time and money too.

Find out more about the FLAVIA Creation 400 »

If you saw a child drowning, would you try to save it?

If you saw a child drowning, would you try to save it? Even if you could not swim, would you try? We believe that most people asked that question would honestly reply “Yes I would”.

But what if it was a million children drowning – and just you to help? What would you do? This is what we feel like. We know there are millions out there in desperate circumstances yet there are limits to the help we can offer to children around the world. We cannot help more than a handful – but we try. We are a business not a charity – we are very much a secular group of people and by no means religious or political, but it is very hard to be able to help so few when there are so very many that need help.

We found two children recently to add to our small adopted family. Vitalis and Tendake – aged 6 and 8 respectively. They came, we think, from Binga some 500 miles from Harare in Zimbabwe. We have no direct means of doing anything for anyone in Zimbabwe. We would like to but such is the political situation there, it is next to impossible. However, we did not have to go there because some three million Zimbabwean’s have migrated to South Africa and many other neighbouring countries. They live in squatter camps or hide in the bush and as most are illegal, they try to find some illicit work to make some money to feed themselves and send back to their families, many now starving, in once prosperous Zimbabwe.

Vee and Tee, as Vitalis and Tendake have been nicknamed by us, came across the dangerous Limpopo River into South Africa illegally with their father. We do not know how, only that they did. Rudyard Kipling described the Limpopo as “the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees,” where the “Bi-Coloured Python Rock-Snake” dwells. It is massive and sluggish and the masses around it face starvation in both flood and drought. The Limpopo is no-one’s friend and crossing at any time is a dangerous undertaking.

They made it. Once across, they moved through the regularly repaired wire fences, cut daily by the desperate masses from Zimbabwe, and across the veldt to a squatter camp. A rough collection of cardboard, scraps of wood, corrugated metal, filth and squalor houses hundreds, maybe thousands of lost souls trying to survive together, in spite of each other. Here exists unimaginable filth and violence. Huts made of nothing leaning against one another, roasting in the summer heat and freezing in the winter nights. No running water, no power, only fires in tins for heat, for light and to cook anything scavenged or occasionally earned. Gangs roam the camps and rob, and worst. Vee and Tee’s father simply disappeared. Who knows why or where? We do not know his name or even if these children have a last name – if they do, they do not know it. Did their father go back to Zimbabwe? Was he a victim of the camp or merely a victim of the hopelessness that sometimes makes people walk away from the responsibilities they can no longer shoulder?

Tee took on his burden. She begged for food all day around the camp keeping Vee with her at all times. They come from the Binga district some 500 miles or so from Harare but with the millions migrating in search of survival how do we ever expect to know where precisely are they from and to whom, if anyone, do these children belong? At night they slept near the hut of an old woman who had many children with her – her grandchildren probably. So many parents have died in the HIV/Aids epidemic that many aged grandmothers are left with many grandchildren to try and save. Because of what they tell us of the changing temperatures we know they may have lived like this for more than a month. Then they decided to go home.

Somehow they made it back to the wrong side of the fence meant to keep them out of South Africa. They were found by one of the farmer’s militia that patrols the border fence trying to capture the illegals to return them to Zimbabwe and stop them scavenging the farms. The very people intent on keeping the illegals out, took pity on the two filthy, ragged hungry children who would not be parted. Someone rang a church charity looking for a temporary home for them. There are no longer orphanages in Southern Africa – too many looking for a home mean that the charities, churches and NGO’s simply cannot cope. Where do you send children who have no-one? What point is served by sending them back to Zimbabwe? Who will look after them? The Pastor rang someone, who rang someone, that rang someone, and on until they found us. At five o’clock one morning one of the UKV staff took a call at home asking if we would do anything. These two are now safe in a children’s charitable school in Mamelodi near Pretoria. They are sponsored by UKV staff and will remain so until they matriculate and leave school or even longer if they extend their education. When you think about it, it isn’t much is it? Care, shelter and safety traded for their identity, their family and their nationality.

One of our people visited the Zimbabwe Embassy on the Strand, in London looking for temporary papers for the children. Total lack of cooperation from the embassy means these kids are stateless – or are they? There is actually no evidence other than their story of crossing the Limpopo that says these children are from anywhere but where they now are. These children have legal re[presentation if necessary because we arranged it, but it seems they may just be absorbed into South Africa because no-one can prove who they are or where they came from.

We do not care either – there really is nothing we can do other than be there for these two little ones as we have been for the past nine years for those that came before.

We have no way of saving the drowning millions. Perhaps one day the world will look after its own – but while we wait, we can and do dip in and save those we able to.

by Dr Ed Murphy UK Vending Ltd

Health Aspects of Using China Cups

Reusable V Disposables

How can we help reduce risk of infection use of reusable cups poses a risk, if the cup is not washed in boiling water, cross contamination could occur, transmitting disease from worker to worker or customer to customer. Have a look on the edge of the glass or mug, and you will quite often see the lipstick from a previous user, this indicates that the process being used to clean the item is not adequate, putting users at high risk. Even without an obvious sign, a glass or china mug may look clean, but unless it has been completely sanitised bacteria or viruses can live on the surface without being visible to the naked eye, infecting the next user of the glass or china mug. Reusable glasses like the ones found in hotel bedrooms would pose the same risk, and the question has to be asked, how are these cups and glasses being washed ready for the next occupant?

Solution

The quick fix to all this would be to use single service products like a paper cup or disposable glass, you then have the confidence that everyone is starting with a completely safe vessel. At this time I do not think anyone can be putting customers or staff at risk with reusable items.

Global health authorities warned Wednesday that swine flu was threatening to bloom into a pandemic, and the virus spread farther in Europe even as the outbreak appeared to stabilize at its epicenter. A toddler who succumbed in Texas became the first death outside Mexico. New cases and deaths finally seemed to be levelling off in Mexico, where 160 people have been killed, after an aggressive public health campaign. But the World Health Organization said the global threat is nevertheless serious enough to ramp up efforts to produce a vaccine against the virus. The group raised its pandemic alert for swine flu to the second highest level Wednesday, meaning that it believes a global outbreak of the disease is imminent. It was the first time the WHO had declared a phase 5 outbreak.

WHO Director General Margaret Chan declared the phase 5 alert after consulting with flu experts from around the world. The decision could lead the global body to recommend additional measures to combat the outbreak, including for vaccine manufacturers to switch production from seasonal flu vaccines to a pandemic vaccine.

“All countries should immediately now activate their pandemic preparedness plans,” Chan told reporters in Geneva. “It really is all of humanity that is under threat in a pandemic.”

Order cups from UK Vending Ltd

Energy efficient KLIX OUTLOOK® marks five years with six new fascias

As one of the leading brands of  UK Vending , KLIX has a strong heritage in providing great tasting quality products and drinks to workplaces, leisure facilities and other public areas throughout the world. And with over 40 years of experience UK Vending  has help KLIX to established as the UK’s number one in-cup drinks vending solution.

Klix Outlook Drinks Machine

KLIX offers an easy and efficient way of serving the perfect mix of ingredients for delicious drinks every time. Easy and mess free to operate, KLIX offers a great solution for any workplace, as well as being perfect for those indoor and outdoor spaces where low maintenance and high quality are key requirements.

In 2004, KLIX launched its OUTLOOK® drinks vending machine range. Offering six attractive exterior design options, the OUTLOOK consistently delivers hot and cold drinks quickly and cleanly through a single touch operation system.

The OUTLOOK has been so popular that KLIX has decided to mark its five year anniversary by launching a new range of six colourful fascia designs. The creative new designs offer a choice of style for every setting, from public attractions through to corporate boardrooms. The new OUTLOOK graphics will be available from September 7, 2009.

At KLIX it’s not only style that takes priority, saving energy and money is also high on the agenda. That’s why KLIX puts its machines through a number of tests in line with the European Vending Association Energy Measurement Test protocol (version 2). The results for the KLIX OUTLOOK reflected the energy efficiency of the machines, which is built in from design through to operation. Highlights include:

* 40% more energy efficient over a typical year compared against two leading free standing vending machines.

* 29% more energy efficient over a typical year compared against three leading water boilers.

Designed with energy efficiency and reliability in mind, the KLIX drinks vending system offers an effective way of serving a delicious range of in-cup branded drinks. Using UK Vending  years of experience, KLIX can set up its drinks vending machines to meet the demands of individual organisations. Based on male-female ratio, age range, industry and machine location, the perfect bespoke drinks menu can be created.

With over 35 drink options to choose from, including premium brands like PG tips, Nescafé, and not to mention hot chocolates, chilled drinks and a range of sustainable drinks, there’s something for everyone, all available from UK Vending Ltd

More infomation

Coffee ‘may reverse Alzheimer’s’ A possible treatment for dementia?

 Drinking five cups of coffee a day could reverse memory problems seen in Alzheimer’s disease, US scientists say.

The Florida research, carried out on mice, also suggested caffeine hampered the production of the protein plaques which are the hallmark of the disease. Previous research has also suggested a protective effect from caffeine. But British experts said the Journal of Alzheimer’s disease study did not mean that dementia patients should start using caffeine supplements.

The results are particularly exciting in that a reversal of pre-existing memory impairment is more difficult to achieve Dr Gary Arendash University of South Florida The 55 mice used in the University of South Florida study had been bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

First the researchers used behavioural tests to confirm the mice were exhibiting signs of memory impairment when they were aged 18 to 19 months, the equivalent to humans being about 70.

They gave half the mice caffeine in their drinking water. The rest were given plain water. The mice were given the equivalent of five 8 oz (227 grams) cups of coffee a day – about 500 milligrams of caffeine.

The researchers say this is the same as is found in two cups of “specialty” coffees such as lattes or cappuccinos from coffee shops, 14 cups of tea, or 20 soft drinks.

When the mice were tested again after two months, those who were given the caffeine performed much better on tests measuring their memory and thinking skills and performed as well as mice of the same age without dementia.

Those drinking plain water continued to do poorly on the tests. In addition, the brains of the mice given caffeine showed nearly a 50% reduction in levels of the beta amyloid protein, which forms destructive clumps in the brains of dementia patients. Further tests suggested caffeine affects the production of both the enzymes needed to produce beta amyloid.

The researchers also suggest that caffeine suppresses inflammatory changes in the brain that lead to an overabundance of the protein. Earlier research by the same team had shown younger mice, who had also been bred to develop Alzheimer’s but who were given caffeine in their early adulthood, were protected against the onset of memory problems.

‘Safe drug’ Dr Gary Arendash, who led the latest study,  “The results are particularly exciting in that a reversal of pre-existing memory impairment is more difficult to achieve. “They provide evidence that caffeine could be a viable ‘treatment’ for established Alzheimer’s disease and not simply a protective strategy. “That’s important because caffeine is a safe drug for most people, it easily enters the brain, and it appears to directly affect the disease process.”

Team now hope to begin human trials of caffeine to see if the mouse findings are replicated in people. They do not know if a lower amount of caffeine would be as effective, but said most people could safely consume the 500 milligrams per day.

However they said people with high blood pressure, and pregnant women, should limit their daily caffeine intake. Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, said: “In this study on mice with symptoms of Alzheimer’s, researchers found that caffeine boosted their memory. We need to do more research to find out whether this effect will be seen in people. “It is too early to say whether drinking coffee or taking caffeine supplements will help people with Alzheimer’s. Neil Hunt, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Society, said previous research into caffeine had suggested it could delay Alzheimer’s disease and even protect against vascular dementia. “This research in mice suggests that coffee may actually reverse some element of memory impairment. “However much more research is needed to determine whether drinking coffee has the same impact in people. “It is too soon to say whether a cup of coffee is anything more than a pleasant pick me up.”

Recycling Flavia Filter Packs

Recycling Flavia Filter Packs
UK Vending in partnership with Save a Cup Recycling Company now offers its clients the opportunity to collect and recycle the Flavia Filter packs.

How does it work?

Used FLAVIA Filterpacks are collected by Save-a-Cup and sent to an energy plant to be turned into electricity.

This electricity is fed into the national grid and used to provide energy for the nations homes, reducing the need for non-renewable fossil fuels.

Clever or what?Just a thought: people are sometimes understandably concerned about emissions from energy plants.

FLAVIA Filterpacks have been designed to burn cleanly and all chlorine-containing compounds (associated with the production of dioxins) were removed from Flavia packaging several years ago.

Whilst some CO2 is released in the process, this gas is actually 20 times less potent a greenhouse gas than methane which is released from landfill sites – we at UK Vending constantly monitor all issues potentially arising from the products we sell or from those we might consider providing to our customers.

There is not a product on earth that we would consider selling – regardless to potential profits – if we believed it would be harmful to our world.Why not visit us now at to see just how carefully we look after our world and how seriously we take our corporate social responsibility.