Micro Markets – Coinadrink

Vending is about more than just snacks and chocolate. £3.78bn more!

Featured, Micro Markets, Vending Machines, Smart Fridge

Fresh products and smart technology have seen the vending industry steamroll into an industry worth £3.78bn!

Ask most people what comes to mind when they hear the word vending and the answer is probably fairly predictable.

A machine in a workplace, shopping centre or leisure centre. A packet of crisps. A chocolate bar. Perhaps a can of fizzy drink.

But that image of vending is increasingly out of date.

The UK vending, coffee services and automated retail industry generated £3.78 billion in revenue during 2025, according to the latest Census & Market Report from the Vending & Automated Retail Association (AVA).

That’s a 3.3% increase on the previous year and puts the sector around 5% above its pre-pandemic level.

So, if vending is supposedly just snacks and drinks, how has it become a multi-billion-pound industry?

The answer is simple: vending has changed.

August 27, 2026/0 Comments/by Alistair

The Micro Market: a brief history of Coinadrink’s pioneering innovation

Featured, Micro Markets

Discover the history of our Micro Market and how it has evolved into a grand workplace refreshment solution today.

Coinadrink Limited was the first UK operator to embrace the smart vending revolution with our Micro Market facility. Recognising where workplace refreshment solutions were heading over the coming years, we took inspiration from the American model and adapted it to our own vision through software and technology that has always been bespoke to our company.

March 30, 2026/0 Comments/by Alistair

Top trends in workplace vending machines for 2025

Snack Machines, Featured, Micro Markets, Sustainability, Cold Drinks Machines, Fresh Food Machines, Hot Drinks Machines, Vending Machines, Bean to Cup Coffee Machines, Coffee Vending Machines, Smart Fridge

Workplace vending trends for 2025 range from a desire for healthier options to better quality coffee, all whilst keeping costs low.

Every new year brings changes in consumer preferences, with certain drinks and snacks emerging as workplace favourites. So, let’s delve into some of the biggest food and drink trends taking shape this year and how our workplace vending machines and refreshment services cater to this growing demand.

February 4, 2025/0 Comments/by Alistair

What is a Micro Market?

Featured, Micro Markets

A Micro Market is an unmanned space where people can purchase a variety of food and beverages around the clock.

A Micro Market is the future of workplace refreshments, offering more than traditional vending with unique features and benefits for both businesses and their staff.

Having just unveiled our 12th Micro Market recently, let’s explore everything you need to know about this facility to help determine whether it’s the right solution for your workplace.

September 8, 2024/0 Comments/by Alistair

Customer Spotlight: National Veterinary Service

Featured, Micro Markets, Workplace Design

National Veterinary Services, based in Stoke-on-Trent, is the UK’s market leading supplier of veterinary wholesale products.

They have been a respected vending customer of Coinadrink Limited since 2013, when they were first introduced to us with one of our Flavia tabletop coffee machines.

Our business relationship has continued to grow, so far culminating in a grand Express Refreshments Micro Market install in August 2023.

In this “customer spotlight”, we got the thoughts of those at NVS to understand what first made them approach Coinadrink over 10 years ago now, right up to their current vending and Micro Market facilities with us.

April 22, 2024/0 Comments/by Alistair

Why designing a home-from-home workplace can improve company culture

Featured, Micro Markets, Workplace Design

Flexible working is here to stay, but what makes it so appealing to your employees?

Considering this question can help business leaders determine which characteristics need to be captured and transferred to your workplace, which in turn will help maintain its position as a central hub for both activity and collaboration.

Research shows that creating a “home-from-home” environment could be the key.

April 15, 2024/0 Comments/by Alistair

Highlight the importance of a lunch break with the Micro Market.

Workplace Design, Featured, Micro Markets

The Micro Market refreshment solution is a great way to encourage your employees to take a lunch break at work.

It seems as though the lunch break could be key to employee wellbeing and productivity in the workplace. That’s according to Compass Group, the world’s leading food services company, and global market intelligence agency Mintel.

With UK employees believed to take just 33 minutes per day on average for their main lunch break, let’s explore how the Express Refreshments Micro Market could bring focus back to what is an important part of the working day.

March 22, 2024/0 Comments/by Alistair

On British Sandwich Week, learn more about the popular meal!

Micro Markets, Fresh Food Machines

Fresh food vending machines [location] and [county] UK

Sandwiches. Whether it’s for lunch, dinner or a just as a little snack, they’re incredibly popular all over the world.

Over time the sandwich has even extended to further creations, such as baguettes, paninis and rolls, and the simple method of adding a filling between two slices of bread has been a satisfying treat for generations. The British sandwich has long been a revolution, and in this blog post we’ll explain how the famous meal became tradition.
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October 17, 2023/0 Comments/by Coinadrink

Just how valuable is your workplace on World Mental Health Day?

Workplace Design, Featured, Micro Markets

10^th October is the annual World Mental Health Day, nestled in the middle of World Mental Health Month. The theme for 2023 is “mental health is a universal human right”, raising awareness of inequalities.

Coinadrink Limited helps pioneer good mental health through employee perks in the workplace, where so many of us will spend so much of our time.

October 10, 2023/0 Comments/by Alistair

A match made in heaven. The two things that stand our Express Refreshments Micro Market apart.

Featured, Micro Markets, Customer Service, Workplace Design

Express Refreshments Micro Market Card and Terminal

With more and more businesses in and around the West Midlands experiencing an Express Refreshments Micro Market, this is a facility that represents a far better option than the traditional canteen.

With the Micro Market designed to represent a convenience store or corner shop in the heart of the workplace, there are two specific aspects of this solution that really enhance the overall “shopping” experience.

July 11, 2023/0 Comments/by Alistair