EVMMA made the collective and voluntary decision at their last meeting, with the objective of helping lower unintentional intake of sugar for consumers.

The European Vending Machine Manufacturers Association (EVMMA), a group within the EVA representing 20 machine manufacturers, unanimously decided at its last meeting in June to set a zero-sugar level on hot drinks machines as standard.

This now means that all hot drinks vending machines will be configured as standard in the factory with no added sugar, unless a specific request has been made otherwise. This should mean in practice that consumers will no longer have to take action at a hot drinks machine to actually remove the sugar option if it is not desired.

Manufacturers typically set up their machines in the factory to ensure that the highest quality coffee can be dispensed. This means for example, that the coffee bean grind is optimised. Until now, however, to reflect consumers’ taste demands, some sugar may have been added to coffee-based drinks in the initial setup; a configuration that had been developed over years.

Now this important step to stop unintentional sugar intake from vending machines has been taken by European manufacturers in order to demonstrate their proactive action in a wider EVA commitment to encourage a more nutritious offering at vending machines. The EVA as a founding member of the EU Platform for Diet, Physical Activity and Health, has been promoting for years a more diverse offering in snack vending machines, and is pleased that machine manufacturers are complementing this work by also taking positive collective steps to identify and provide solutions through the machines themselves.

It should be noted that this action is from machine manufacturers and does not cover vending machine operators, who after
purchasing the machine could eventually amend its setup. Furthermore, the consumer will of course continue to be able to choose to add sugar to their hot beverages, if that is their personal preference.

This step by machine manufacturers follows other recent voluntary initiatives in the vending industry aiming to promote healthier eating, including a collaboration between the Spanish Vending Association (ANEDA) and the Spanish government on a range of criteria with the aim to provide more balanced options in vending machines in this market.