Bottled and canned beverages make up the largest portion of vended products globally. While beverages are expected to keep their stronghold of vending sales, growth in packaged drinks vending is expected to slow through 2013, says Euromonitor International, Chicago. Packaged drinks sold through vending in the United States accounted for $9.5 billion in sales in 2009, according to the research firm.
Through 2013, Euromonitor expects that product mix in vending machines will follow mainstream purchasing trends, with an increase in bottled waters, functional drinks, sports drinks and juices appearing in machines. Unfortunately these new categories are not enough to offset lower demand for carbonated soft drinks, which is slowing down overall packaged drinks vending growth, Euromonitor says.