All posts by Katie Waxman.

The definition of a snack is expanding. It no longer refers only to a small amount of sweet or salty food eaten between meals. A healthy snack can also be a meal replacement that helps Phoenix employees meet their daily caloric and hydration needs. All micro-market snacks, independent of their role, fall into one or more of the three primary snack needs: nourishment, optimization, and pleasure.

Role 1: Sweet or Salty Treat

I have some good news for you. Traditional sweet and salty snacks are not going anywhere. In 2017, the sale of chocolate-based treats produced over $1.8 billion in revenue, or 74.9 percent of the total sales for candy. On the salty side of the aisle, $2.9 billion in revenue came from the sale of chips. That’s 46.6 percent of sales in its category. While sweet and salty snacks are most often consumed as a reward or indulgence, many Phoenix employees also use a trip to the office break room as an opportunity to enjoy new flavors and textures.

Certain snacks have always and will continue to play the role of a sweet or salty treat, but in 2018, many snacks have a new purpose.

Role 2: Healthy Meal Replacement

According to the NPD Group’s tracking of U.S. consumers’ snacking attitudes and behaviors, “snack foods eaten at main meals now represent 24 percent of all snack food eatings, which is up from 21 percent five years ago.”  Not only are Phoenix employees looking for nourishment and optimization, a mental or physical energy boost, they have high expectations about the quality of product labels and the ingredients that they put in their bodies.

Accurate and clearly written product labels play an important part before snacks and beverages are even consumed. For 39 percent of U.S. consumers, inaccurate or confusing information on a product label will trigger a switch to a product that has clearer and more accurate product information. Additionally, 68 percent of the participants in a Nielson study said they would pay more for snacks, beverages, and prepared food items that weren’t made with “bad” ingredients. Fresh, organic, clean, and Fair Trade are just a few of the terms Phoenix employees are looking for in the office break room.

A micro-market offers your Phoenix employees a wide range of healthy fresh foods, sweet and salty snacks, and beverages that can be enjoyed at any time of the day. Not only is it a place to grab a bite to eat, but it is also a relaxing environment to catch up with colleagues during the workday. To learn more about updating your micro-market selections or learn more about other vending solutions, contact Southwest Vending at 623.780.3036.  

The workplace including the office break room is changing. After the pendulum swung from everyone working at the office to a dramatic jump in remote employees, the pendulum is settling somewhere in the middle. Phoenix companies are bringing their employees back to the office in hopes of fostering face-to-face collaboration, inspiring innovation, and increasing productivity. And thankfully, it isn’t back into cubeville or the dark, sparsely-decorated break room hidden somewhere at the back of the building. Companies are redesigning their environments to be open, communal areas with spaces designed to promote spontaneous work-related conversations and increase morale.

One area that is no longer left as an afterthought is the office break room. To learn more about what your Phoenix employees need and want, try surveying them. They know what they want. A recent Staples survey found that “83 percent of employees say that a well-stocked break room results in happier employees, while 53 percent say that a well-stocked break room results in more productive employees.”

In 2018, there are a wide variety of options available including pantry service, cafe-style coffee service, and the micro-market.

Micro-Market

• open concept “mini” store using open shelving, glass-front coolers, and self-checkout technology
• offers employees the option to read nutrition labels and make educated decisions about what to eat or drink
• highlights the opportunity to make healthy choices by offering fresh and nutritious sandwiches, wraps, salads, snacks and beverages, fresh produce, and yogurt
• includes a wide variety of choices which acknowledge that employees have distinct preferences and unique work schedules

Cafe-Style Coffee Service

• Creates a gourmet coffee-house experience without leaving the office
• Includes a variety of teas and specially sourced coffee beans and locally roasted coffees creating a unique coffee experience
• Uses different brewing systems including single-cup brewers, traditional brewers, and commercial brewers

Pantry Service

• pantry space in your break room with open shelving, bright glass-front coolers, and displays full of food, snack and beverage options
• includes a wide variety of choices which acknowledges that employees have distinct preferences and unique work schedules
• often includes a selection of breakfast foods, fresh and nutritious sandwiches, wraps, salads, fresh produce, and yogurt as well as healthy and traditional snacks and beverages
• employers cover the full cost of this benefit allowing employees to focus on other financial responsibilities

Which options will your employees prefer? Think of Southwest Vending as a partner that can help with your Phoenix vending needs through the services that we offer. To learn more about pantry service, cafe-style coffee service, or the micro-market, contact us at 623.780.3036. We look forward to collaborating with you.

For the first time in history, bottled water is the No.1 packaged beverage in the United States (by volume). People are shifting away from less healthy packaged drinks and choosing the healthy option—bottled water.

– Jill Culora, International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), Vice President of Communications

According to a recent study by the IBWA, more than 63 percent of Americans choose bottled water as their beverage of choice. And 94 percent of Americans believe that bottled water is healthier than soft drinks. But what exactly does the phrase ‘bottled water’ mean? The definition is more complex than it might initially seem.

Per the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), bottled water is a consumer food product; which means that strict standards of identity must be followed in order to legally call a bottle filled with water ‘bottled water’. The FDA requires that the “type” of water must be clearly printed on the label of all bottled water sold in the United States. To understand the FDA’s classifications, it is important to know the following terms.

Spring Water: “Derived from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to the surface, this water must be collected only at the spring or through a borehole that taps the underground formation feeding the spring. If some external force is used to collect the water through a borehole, the water must have the same composition and quality as the water that naturally flows to the surface.”

Purified Water: “Bottled water that has been treated by distillation, reverse osmosis, or another suitable process may meet standards that allow it to be labeled as “purified water.””

Mineral Water: “This water comes from an underground source and contains at least 250 parts per million total dissolved solids. Minerals and trace elements must come from the source of the underground water. They cannot be added later.”

Artesian Water/Artesian Well Water: “This water is collected from a well that taps an aquifer—layers of porous rock, sand, and earth that contain water—which is under pressure from surrounding upper layers of rock or clay. When tapped, the pressure in the aquifer, commonly called artesian pressure, pushes the water above the level of the aquifer, sometimes to the surface. Other means may be used to help bring the water to the surface.”

Well Water: “This is water from a hole bored or drilled into the ground, which taps into an aquifer.”

Understanding the different water sources and methods of extraction will help Scottsdale employees answer questions about the taste, quality, and safety of a specific type of water. This is especially important as 82 percent of Americans think they should drink more water and 90 percent believe that bottled water is a healthy and convenient beverage.

To help your Scottsdale employees stay hydrated and healthy, make sure to include bottled water in your office break room vending machine. Try offering healthy snacks with healthy beverages at a reduced cost. It not only keeps everyone hydrated and satiated, but it’s also a great moral booster. For more information about adding healthy vending machines to your Scottsdale break room, call Southwest Vending at 623.780.3036.  

Everyone has that one favorite “not-so-healthy” snack that they enjoy every now and then. While we’ve all heard that moderation is key, deciding whether to go healthy or not can be quite the dilemma. Often Scottsdale consumers want to eat healthy, but at the same time, they want to enjoy their favorite sweet or salty guilty pleasure.

Many of Scottsdale’s favorite sweet and salty snacks have been around for more than 30 years and include:

• Confections (chocolate, candy, etc.): PEZ (1950), Swedish Fish (late 1950s), Nerds (1983), anything made with chocolate
• Salty: sunflower seeds, Cheese Balls (1980s), Combos (mid 1970s), Goldfish, Doritos (1974), Pringles (1975), chips, crackers
• Cookies and Snack Cakes: Famous Amos cookies (1975), animal crackers (1902), rice krispies treats, Oatmeal Cream Pies (1960), Oreos, Pop-tarts (1964)
• Other snacks: Dippin’ Dots (1987), Fruit Roll-ups (1991) or fruit snacks, granola bars, Milk ‘n’ Cereal Bars or breakfast bars (1990s – early 2000s)

If Scottsdale employees are looking, however, for something that’s a little healthier, there are a lot of healthy sweet and salty options available too. Healthier snack options include fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, popcorn, squeezable yogurt tubes, yogurt smoothies, pre-packaged organic meal kits, salsa, and hummus. Many of these healthy snacks can also be combined to create a healthy mini-meal when there isn’t enough time for a sit down meal.

Whether your Scottsdale employees are craving something healthy or “not-so-healthy,” many of these snacks can be found all day in the office breakroom micro-market or vending machine. Providing an easily accessible, onsite location where all types of snacks and beverages including office coffee service are available is just one benefit that lets your employees know they are valuable. Another benefit is to offer everything at a reduced or zero cost. Not only will employees welcome onsite snack and beverage options, but they will also appreciate the cash left in their pocket.  

Don’t forget to offer refreshing beverages along with both healthy and not-so-healthy snacks. It’s important to keep your employees hydrated as well as satiated. To learn more about the many different types of breakroom snack and beverage options in Scottsdale, call Southwest Vending at 623.780.3036.

2018 is predicted to bring new and unusual, but tasty, snacks and beverages to Scottsdale. According to Denise Purcell, head of content for the Specialty Food Association, “Macro trends like sustainability and health are converging in the 2018 [food] trends.” This combination will create food trends including more plant-based foods, upcycled edible products, and healthy alternative sweeteners.

Plant-Based Foods

Gone are the days when plant-based foods were only found in out of the way health food stores. Today, plant-based options are endless and can be found everywhere from the local grocery store to the office break room vending machine. Scottsdale consumers are likely to find a wide variety of plant-based options including dairy-free milk products such as cheese or yogurt; frozen desserts such as ice cream or whipped topping; and convenience foods such as crackers, cereals, cookies, bean chips, premade burritos, and protein bars. Below are a few of the plant ingredients found in healthy snacks and beverages that consumers will enjoy more of in 2018.

• dairy-free alternatives: almonds, coconuts, cashews, soy, and rice
• pulses: beans, lentils, chickpeas, and peas
• vegetables: beets, sweet potatoes, kale, tomatoes, and corn    
• ancient grains: quinoa, spelt, amaranth, kamut, and farro
• protein-rich seeds: hemp, chia, and flax

Upcycled Edibles

Forty percent of the food produced in the United States is thrown away each year. That is equivalent to $165 billion of food. Upcycled dishes have already made appearances in home kitchens and restaurants. As Scottsdale consumers develop a better understanding of this problem, prepackaged upcycled products made from ingredients and scraps that would have otherwise been discarded, will increase in availability. Several snacks and beverages that are already available include

• pressed juice made from imperfect fruit
• chips made from fruit pulp
• snack bars made from spent grain from the beer making process
• condiments including chutney and chilis made from ugly produce
• hot-on-the-go oatmeal made with the coffee fruit

Alternative Sweeteners

Sugar. Many Scottsdale consumers have a love-hate relationship with it. It’s tasty, but too much of it can cause health issues. To be able to enjoy something sweet and be mindful of their health, consumers are looking for natural, alternative sweeteners that have a lower glycemic impact, fewer added sugar calories, and a sustainable footprint. The following are a few lesser known fruits that make deliciously sweet syrups and can be found in a variety of snacks and beverages.

• dates: the fruit of the date palm tree that becomes a thick molasses-like syrup with a rich, sweet flavor
• monk fruit: a fruit native to southern China and northern Thailand that has a flavor similar to traditional sugar
• agave: a cactus plant from Mexico and the Southwestern United States that has a flavor similar but milder than honey
• lucuma: a Peruvian fruit with a maple-like taste
• yacon: a South American tuber that tastes like an apple, but has a maple-like flavor when it is a syrup  

Have your Scottsdale employees started looking for snacks and beverages that are healthier or better for the planet? Whether they want a mix of traditional and healthy choices or just an afternoon coffee pick-me-up, Southwest Vending can help. Call us at 623.780.3036 for more information about vending machines, micro-markets, and a variety of other vending options.