Your soda vending machine is an important part of your business. When the weather is hot and sticky, the first thing a thirsty employee will want to do when they get into work is have a cold drink of soda. Without a soda vending machine you are missing an opportunity to keep your employees on track and at work. There is no need to go out to buy a drink –a great selection is available in the soda vending machine. And what is more important, you can provide a whole range of Coca Cola and Pepsi cola products from our vending machines, not just one or two varieties. In addition we can stock your soda vending machine with other National brand energy drinks to help that employee whose energy is flagging.

Even more important in this day an age when people expect their drinks to be as pure as possible, you can supply filtered water from one of our water filtration coolers. Employees appreciate an employer who has been thoughtful enough to not only supply a vast array of drinks in their vending machines but also pure chilled water on demand, negating the need to bring bottles of water into work.

After all , the whole purpose of the soda vending machine , hot drinks vending machines, and fresh food vending machines is to provide easy quick and taste - bud titillating solutions for the thirsty and hungry employee, or if you are in a school, doctor’s or dentist’s office, for your clients too. Even more important is to have machines that are reliable, robust, that do not break down, and if they do, are repaired quickly and efficiently.

We pride ourselves on not only providing the most technologically advanced vending machines, but also on first class service. All our machines have a maintenance schedule, we carry the full array of spare parts, and in the unlikely event of a breakdown we can be there in as little as two hours to put things right. Not only that, but we also keep the stocks in your soda vending machine updated via our hand held computers that ensure that stocks never run low.

And in addition to a soda vending machine we can also provide you with the finest range of hot drinks vending machines for the discerning consumer who wants a first class hot drink of their choice on demand. And for the smaller office we can provide a truly amazing coffee service with our single cup brewers, such as Keurig, Douwe Egberts, Flavia, to mention but a few. With the proliferation of coffee shops and the demand for the drinks provided at work from vending machines or single cups brewers to be of the same standard as can be bought outside, it is important to be able to provide hot drinks, and particularly coffees, to the same high standard. The soda vending machine, hot drinks vending machine, single cup brewers and healthy food vending machines will provide your employees with everything they could want or need to remain efficient, happy and appreciative of their employer.

The single cup coffee brewer produces an exceptional tasting, fresh coffee, but like beauty, the definition of gourmet coffee is in the eye of the beholder. In other words individual taste will define what is ‘gourmet’.

The coffee service for individuals with taste

In general a gourmet coffee maker will be a single cup coffee brewer. The coffees will be the finest Arabica coffee beans, which have been grown at high elevations in ideal coffee producing climates, and usually harvested by hand. Gourmet coffee beans have distinctive flavors specific to the botanical variety, the method by which they have been processed, and the unique characteristics of the soil in which they are grown. Most people these days, with the proliferation of coffee shops, can distinguish a good Arabica coffee from the more bitter Robusta beans found growing at lower levels and harvested by machine. Southern Refreshment Services not only supplies customers with gourmet coffees in the greater Atlanta area with the finest Arabica coffees from around the world, plus single- origin coffees, exquisite custom blends, Fair Trade and organic coffees. All of these can be brewed through a Keurig, Flavia, Wolfgang Puck and Pod Brewers to mention but a few.

How to drink the finest coffee using single serve gourmet coffee machines

But there is just one thing – in order to enjoy your coffee, and for you to provide your employees, visitors, students or clients with the finest coffee experience, you need to be aware of what makes a fine gourmet coffee. Let’s look at the basics –the water that you use for your coffee is crucial. Ideally you should use filtered water, such as that provided by the SIP or UV system supplied by Southern Refreshment Services, the gourmet coffee company, to Atlanta and the South. Most people, when left to their own devices are not good coffee brewers .They do not have the time to select and grind the beans themselves, and are unsure of how much coffee to put into the filter. So that is why our single serve coffee brewers come into their own. Each cup is made from the perfect measure of coffee, and with advanced technology, the water is at an ideal temperature and the time it takes to filter has been carefully calculated. You can choose from a variety of sizes of machines to fit into any office break area, or reception area, hotel, or student dorm. In other words, whenever your need to buy gourmet coffee, Southern Refreshment Services can supply the right single cup gourmet coffee maker.

Single cup coffee machines

Gourmet coffee makers include

• Avalon La Petite,
• Colibri LX,
• Douwe EgbertC-60,
• Flavia Creation 400,
• Flavia SB100,
• Keurig B200,
• Keurig3000, Kikko,
• Korinto,
• Koro,
• LavazzaBlue2210,
• Lavazza Blue Colibri,
• Starbucks Interactive Cup,
• Wolfgang Puck Café Express.

In addition there are:

• Air Pot Brewers such as Ace AP,
• Ace TC
• Ace TS and
• Bunn Smart Wave,
• and glass pot brewers
• Ace LP and AceS.

A snack vending machine that is accessible for your staff, clients or customers, is a service that makes a difference. Our snack vending machines and food and drink vending machines carry a wide array of choices, and we aim to reduce our carbon footprint by using local suppliers wherever possible. Please look at our website to see the range of choices in snacks, foods and drinks that you can supply for your staff clients or customers.

You can be assured that all tastes are catered for – our snack vending machines contain regular snacks such as cookies of all descriptions, pastries, candy, and chips and we even supply healthy snacks for the health conscious. We always place these on the right side of our snack vending machines and we will gladly advise you on how to use the value foods snacks and drinks from our vending machines to complement your wellness program.

With a focus on healthy snacks that include fiber and protein our snack vending machines can contain cereal bars or granola bars with a little protein. Or how about pretzels or baked chips as a great low fat low calorie way to stave off those hunger pangs? There is also a choice of fresh fruits, vegetables and salads that are prepackaged and ready to eat from our food vending machines. So without leaving your office your staff can maintain high productivity and minimum down time, knowing that they have the choice of ready made meals and snacks at the touch of a button. But that’s not all – in addition to snack and food vending machines, we can provide you with hot and cold drink vending machines. These can even be customized to fit into your environment and create a break room that is a pleasure to visit with traffic flow as part of the design to ensure that drinks and food are available as efficiently as possible.

If you are in an office and your employees are hungry, minimize down time by providing them with food and drink choices. But beware that they will have expectations that the machines will never break down. We provide a personal service that is second to none. Our snack vending machines and food and drink vending machines are state of the art, and we minimize problems by providing service personnel 7 days a week, around the clock. The last thing you want is a snack vending machine that doesn’t work, so in the unlikely event that something goes wrong our trained repair team can generally respond to your call within 2 to four hours. And even more important we put your machine on a regular maintenance schedule to minimize service interruptions.

While the maintenance and servicing of the machines is important it is even more important that your snack vending machine and food and drink vending machines are kept properly stocked. How frustrating is it to arrive at the machine and find your favorites are out of stock. We prevent this happening by knowing the true needs of the people we service. Keeping stocks up is not a guessing game. We use a combination of technology and communication via our new hand held computers. These allow us to monitor track and maintain the stocks in your break room, so that you can offer a better service to your staff, clients or customers.

A Coffee vending machine is an asset to virtually any sizable business, from both a business point of view and also for the benefit and ultimate productivity of your staff.

Revealing the secrets of happy employees:

A coffee vending machine can make the difference between an untidy and unhealthy break room and a room that shows your employees you genuinely care about them. With the ever increasing popularity of coffee you are onto a winning formula by providing them with a coffee vending machine. Instead of having to hang around and wait for water to boil, make a drink, find a cup, go to the fridge for some cream, find a stirrer, and waste a lot of time, a coffee vending machine will do all this is one operation. You can see how this cuts down on time wasted, and also gives your employees choices of drinks that they wouldn’t normally have.

A coffee vending machine success story

We only use the highest quality coffees in our machines. The choice is there instantly. Your staff do not have to hang around waiting to get a drink – they can go to a coffee vending machine and the cup of hot , freshly brewed coffee , of their choice, is there at an instant, and at an affordable price. The days are gone when a coffee vending machine produced a lukewarm apology for a drink. With our state of the art technology, every cup is perfection. And more important than that….

Why employees expect the best from a coffee vending machine

The proliferation of coffee shops means that people have high expectations. We meet their expectations by providing only the finest coffees in all of our coffee vending machines. And what is more, the choice expands to include other popular hot and cold drinks too –the finest teas, the most popular brands, including Coca cola and Pepsi cola – all can be provided in the coffee vending machine. Please explore our site to see the wide range of choices, and be assured that our customer service is second to none. We ensure that the coffee vending machine of your choice is an asset in both senses of the word.

The Keurig coffee machine single cup brewer is only one of the range of machines that we can provide for our clients. The Keurig single cup brewer is the industry leader in single cup coffee brewing technology in the USA. As with other single brewing machines, you can have a perfectly brewed cup of coffee or tea in less than a minute, one cup at a time. We can even provide different cup sizes, so that the coffee gourmet can have the biggest cup while the occasional drinker will be happy with the smaller cup.

The Keurig coffee machine was developed to meet the challenge of office workers leaving the office ins search of a perfect cup of coffee. With the prevalence of coffee shops throughout the USA, people have come to expect that they can have fresh coffee and tea on demand.

The break room typically has a pot of coffee brewing, but if you are one of the unlucky ones to want a coffee when it has been stewing for an hour or more, what is left hardly delights the taste buds. However with a Keurig coffee machine, or another types of single cup brewer such as the Douwe Egbert c-60 or the Flavia creation 400, or one of our other excellent single cup brewers, you are guaranteed a drink to titillate the taste buds, while the aroma of freshly brewed coffee stimulates the senses.

And it doesn’t stop there. Each of the single cup brewers including the Keurig coffee machine, will brew teas equally efficiently, making them ideal for offices, hotels, doctors’ offices, dentists’ offices and anywhere that wants to offer this service to their staff and/or customers.

In addition to supplying you with the best equipment for your particular circumstances and budget , we will provide you with the freshest products. For example our Highland Estates coffees arrive on your doorstep, freshly roasted locally. We believe in supporting our local economy and reducing our carbon footprint wherever possible. Once we place your order we can have it roasted and packaged and in your hands within 5 days. You cant beat that!

But that’s not all. Once you have your Keurig coffee machine or another singe cup brewer of distinction, you may find that the break room just doesn’t have the traffic flow needed to ensure your staff are able to get their drinks when they want them. So our professional design staff will help you to redesign your break room to get optimum traffic flow through the area. In addition we will advise you on the best procedures to make sure there is minimum pilferage.

Please take advantage of this opportunity to browse through our website and take a look at the Keurig coffee machine as well as our other state of the art single cup brewers. You will also find information about our vending machines . Did you know that in addition to providing your staff with the finest freshly brewed teas and coffees you can also give them the opportunity to purchase meals and snacks from our vending machines? Please don’t hesitate to ask us for more information- call nowand speak to one of our experienced and professional staff.

Study: Coffee May Lower Cancer Risk in Women

 

 

Drinking two or more cups of coffee a day may lower women's risk of developing endometrial cancer, American researchers found.

 

Scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health analyzed the effect of coffee intake on 67,470 women and found that 672 developed endometrial cancers, which affect the lining of the uterus, over a 26-year period.

 

Those who drank more than four cups of coffee a day were 25 percent less likely to develop the cancer, while those who had two or three cups had a reduced risk of seven percent, according to the study, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

 

The same link was found in women who drank decaffeinated coffee, with those drinking two cups per day at a 22 percent reduced risk for the cancer.

 

"Coffee has already been shown to be protective against diabetes due to its effect on insulin," senior researcher Edward Giovannucci said. "So we hypothesized that we'd see a reduction in some cancers, as well."

 

Giovannucci also warned about the dangers of drinking coffee and smoking.

 

"Coffee has long been linked with smoking, and if you drink coffee and smoke, the positive effects of coffee are going to be more than outweighed by the negative effects of smoking," he added. "However, laboratory testing has found that coffee has much more antioxidants than most vegetables and fruits."

 

Article from: http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpps/health/study-coffee-may-lower-cancer-risk-in-women-dpgonc-20111123-kh_16090690

 

http://www.vendingmarketwatch.com/news/10296932/research-indicates-disease-prevention-benefits-in-coffee-and-tea

Dan Hart, owner and operator of Atlanta-based Southern Refreshments, has seen the future of vending. And it’s hiding inside his equipment, warehouse and trucks. The industry is caught in a time warp, lagging about two decades behind where it could be, he says. The wave of the future is technology, and Hart’s company is poised at the leading edge. 

 

A Glimpse into the Future

Let’s imagine a day in the very near future of this FLO operator, a company established in 1979 by two guys making deliveries out of the back of a station wagon: 

·         As the day begins, real-time data from each piece of equipment in metro Atlanta feeds into a warehouse stocking system. 

·         LED displays indicate exactly how many units of each SKU to select from flow racks to fill each order. 

·         Items are packed in individual plastic bins destined to fill a particular customer’s machine.

·         The system records how fast the order is prepared and prints a label, which attaches to the container before it’s loaded on the truck. 

 

And there’s more:

·         Money is handled in a similar fashion. The system knows precisely how many and which denomination of coins and bills are in each machine and what is needed to restock each of Southern Refreshments’ 5,000 venders.

·         Credit card readers installed on key machines provide further enhancements. 

·         GPS units mounted on the truck fleet enable managers to track drivers’ progress on their routes. 

·         As employees arrive at customer locations, they use hand-held bar code devices to track interactions with each machine and money bag. 

·         The system meticulously records all transactions and exchanges. 

·         Back at the office, computer readouts indicate minute details, such as the moment a vender is opened for service.

·         Service needs are monitored as well, informing the team if a unit is malfunctioning.

·         Vender temperature is controlled remotely, programmed to produce maximum energy efficiency. 

 

This tale is far from a work of fiction because Southern Refreshments possesses most of these capabilities today. The final piece of the puzzle, the warehouse inventory pick system, will be installed in 2011. 

 

Systems Increase Revenue per Machine

“At the end of 2009, I decided to push the edge on technology,” says Hart. “It’s always provided our company a competitive edge, and because margins are slim in this industry, we need to use every available efficiency. The systems we’re installing positively impact my bottom line, increasing sales and profits. And I now better understand what my business is doing.”

 

The controls Southern Refreshments has in place provide performance indicators by product, vender, location, customer and employee. “We know what’s going on in an account 60 miles away. It allows us to better merchandize equipment, keep products in stock and increase revenue per machine,” Hart explains. Labor efficiency is another advantage. In addition, customer service improves, and equipment is better maintained. The system also enhances financial accountability and minimizes risk.

 

Beyond Technology: The Rest of the Story

While technology is an enormous component of the picture, there is more to this success story.

Cold drinks comprise about 40% of the operator’s volume. “The Coca-Cola Company is our major supplier and part of our lifeblood,” says Hart. “Everything that Coke does affects us. New products can increase turns in a machine, and compelling advertising and graphics help us sell more. It’s a win-win situation.” 

 

In addition to Coca-Cola®, Diet Coke® is a top performing product. Coke Zero™ has been a huge seller for the operator as well. He points to energy drinks, POWERADE® and vitaminwater® as consistent moving products, and powerhouses include green teas and NESTEA® Red Tea Pomegranate Passion Fruit.

 

Equipment innovation delivers another distinct benefit. The new Coca-Cola Interactive Vender, featuring touch screen operation, is an enormous attraction at one of Hart’s key accounts, Georgia State University. “We placed two machines at the college at the beginning of the semester and three months later, kids still gather to look at it. When I visit, there’s always a flock of students standing around, touching it and buying products. The animation has generated a lot of brand awareness.” 

 

Graphics and promotions provide additional ways to increase sales. His company ran a promotion on the same campus with a pizza restaurant, using snipes to communicate the offer. With the purchase of a Coke Zero, the recipient would receive a coupon for $1.00 off a pizza purchase and some lucky recipients received a free pizza. “It was tremendously successful,” says the operator, “and helped drive volume through the machines.”

 

Southern Refreshments has experienced the same economy induced financial pinch as the rest of the industry, but wise planning created a silver lining. “This recession,” says Hart, “drove us to better manage our business and become even smarter.” The need to focus on technology is one of his most valuable lessons. “The entire industry is changing,” he says. “Those that evolve with it will survive; those that don’t will have a tough time making money.” Thanks to Hart’s foresight, Southern Refreshments is positioned for enduring success.

 

Your morning cup of coffee may cost you more money going forward. Coffee futures have jumped more thank 40 perfect in the last year and there are expectations of a smaller than normal crop next year. So how should investors trade the commodity?

Read More

Dan Hart, owner and operator of Atlanta-based Southern Refreshments, has seen the future of vending. And it’s hiding inside his equipment, warehouse and trucks. The industry is caught in a time warp, lagging about two decades behind where it could be, he says. The wave of the future is technology, and Hart’s company is poised at the leading edge. 

A Glimpse into the Future

Let’s imagine a day in the very near future of this FLO operator, a company established in 1979 by two guys making deliveries out of the back of a station wagon: 

• As the day begins, real-time data from each piece of equipment in metro Atlanta feeds into a warehouse stocking system. 
• LED displays indicate exactly how many units of each SKU to select from flow racks to fill each order. 
• Items are packed in individual plastic bins destined to fill a particular customer’s machine.
• The system records how fast the order is prepared and prints a label, which attaches to the container before it’s loaded on the truck. 

And there’s more:

• Money is handled in a similar fashion. The system knows precisely how many and which denomination of coins and bills are in each machine and what is needed to restock each of Southern Refreshments’ 5,000 venders.
• Credit card readers installed on key machines provide further enhancements. 
• GPS units mounted on the truck fleet enable managers to track drivers’ progress on their routes. 
• As employees arrive at customer locations, they use hand-held bar code devices to track interactions with each machine and money bag. 
• The system meticulously records all transactions and exchanges. 
• Back at the office, computer readouts indicate minute details, such as the moment a vender is opened for service.
• Service needs are monitored as well, informing the team if a unit is malfunctioning.
• Vender temperature is controlled remotely, programmed to produce maximum energy efficiency. 

This tale is far from a work of fiction because Southern Refreshments possesses most of these capabilities today. The final piece of the puzzle, the warehouse inventory pick system, will be installed in 2011. 

To read more follow this link: http://www.cokesolutions.com/Featured%20Articles/SouthernRefreshmentsGoesHighTech.aspx