October-November 2021 - 21

WORD ON THE STREET
The convenience services industry,
through service protocols and equipment
designs, has always strived to
keep consumers safe. But are fundamental
changes government and media
are talking about necessary? Earlier
this year, just as vaccines began to roll
out a rapid pace, we asked some leading
operators if the demand for touchfree
technology in OCS and vending
locations will have staying power.
Matthew Marsh of First-Class
Vending, which operates in Las Vegas
and Los Angeles, said, " If a client
requests it, we can do it. From our
experience, however, the clients that
have received it are not using it. It is a
neat gimmick, but I do not think it's
going to stick. It's just not necessary. "
Tom Steuber of San Leandro-based
Associated Services added, " Our
thinking on this is that we will absolutely
have customers who will insist
on touch-free equipment, but as time
goes by, it will be used less and less.
In our own office, we saw people use
it initially, but as people get more and
more comfortable about touch points,
they stop using it. "
It could be the " cool factor " that
lends longevity to the idea of a touchless
breakroom, according to Arthur
Siller of Seattle's Evergreen Refreshments.
" From our experience, we do
not think touch-free technology is
going to be prevalent, " Siller noted.
" We saw a big rush to touch-free
technology, including wraps on equipment,
and we can present options to
clients. The technology is very cool
and appealing to many. It is the 'cool
factor' that might drive the interest,
especially with younger people. "
For Judson Kleinman of Corporate
Essentials, which services clients in
the New York City market, touchless
technology is here to stay. " [Touchless]
comes up in almost every conversation, "
he said. " It is here to stay, but in
a year or two it won't be on people's
minds as much. Today though, it
comes up in almost every conversation
with clients who are ready to bring
back their employees. "
When Automatic Merchandiser
spoke to these operators, among other
"
We saw a big rush to touch-free technology, including
wraps on equipment, and we can present options to
clients. The technology is very cool and appealing to many. "
Arthur Siller of Seattle's Evergreen Refreshments
industry leaders, it seemed as though
the COVID-19 pandemic would be in
operators' rearview mirrors by the end
of the summer. Eclipsed by the delta
variant, the anticipated convenience
services revival never came this September,
when kids would go back to
school and at-home employees would
return to offices. Once again, sanitation
and touchless is at the forefront.
novel touchless features to help make
employees' safety the top priority.
One year ago, Nestlé added a
feature to its coffeemakers that lets an
individual select their choice by holding
their hands over the menu options.
And several months ago, Nespresso
Memento OCS machines received
an update that enables users to insert
a capsule and then choose their
October/November 2021 * VendingMarketWatch.com 21
Bravilor Bonamat's Contactless Coffee
Control app is shown here with company's
SEGO bean-to-cup office brewer. The
CCC app works with an NFC reader
compatible with iOS and Android devices.
Bravilor offers an upgrade kit that adds
the touchless app feature to its machines.
Bravilor Bonamat
COFFEE SOLUTIONS
Touchless in the context of technology
can be defined as a device that
operates without needing to touch
it. Human-machine interfaces in the
touchless niche include proximityenabled
screens, camera-based
gestures, voice recognition and eyetracking
tech.
Major suppliers in the OCS space
like Newco, Bunn-O-Matic, Keurig Dr
Pepper, Nestlé and Lavazza developed
http://www.VendingMarketWatch.com
October-November 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October-November 2021
