editorial - hostelVending

vending / hostelvending
few times in life A summer
wAs so eAgerly AwAited As
this yeAr’s by An importAnt
pArt of the vending indus-
try: the wAter coolers.
with the industry dripping
importAnt losses, this time
of the yeAr comes up As
the right moment to stArt
the recovery. in the pArti-
culAr cAse of this mArket,
whAt A better seAson of the
yeAr thAn summer – when
the need for wAter is most
importAnt – to promote
new products, estAblish
relAtionships with new
clients or ActivAte syner-
gies with other vending
segments.
indeed, eAch drop counts
this summer.
Water coolers:
the 3-million-unit
barrier could be
broken in Western
European market
According to the last report from the
food and drink consultancy Zenith International,
the water cooler industry is fast
approaching to 2.8 million units in active use.
The growth over last four years has been
spectacular, nearing 30%.
Furthermore, if we go back to last year,
in the first and intermediate phases of the
economic downturn, the market still grew
by 3%.
iTALy ANd ThE uNiTEd kiNgdOM AS
EXAMPLES
“POU – Point of Use coolers are those
who re-treat drinking water at the point of
34 ❙ hostelvending
consumption to improve taste – is a young
market but it is growing fast. Bottled water
cooler is a mature market which is suffering
from POU competition,” Federica Diotallevi,
marketing director for Italian manufacturer
Cosmetal, explains to Hostel Vending. Her
firm is enjoying national and international
success with its latest model, Nives, both
for offices and domestic use.
According to Zenith International, Italy
and the UK are the countries with the largest
number of coolers in Western Europe,
with a combined unit share of over 40%.
These two markets, nevertheless, behaved in
different way last year. Whereas the industry