"We have certainly seen a demand from our customers for coffee made directly from whole beans," explains Selecta hot drinks category manager Ashley James. "Sales of our bean-to-cup coffee have been increasing by around 20 per cent year-on-year as consumers look to vending operators to provide them with the same level of choice that they would find on the high street. We have found that our customers are increasingly looking for a higher quality, more memorable coffee drinking experience with a bold, strong and distinctive taste, which we can provide through our bean-to-cup- offers."

As it is not tied to any single supplier, Selecta can offer a variety of bean-to-cup options from popular brands including Ritazza, Kenco and Nescafe. "We can tailor a coffee vending solution to meet the specific needs of any given customer," says Ashley. "If one of our customers only wanted bean-to-cup coffee, we can do that. We can also make it available alongside our traditional instant and filter coffees or from vending units that provide both food and drink, which is made possible by our relationships with leading equipment manufacturers."

For the highest quality and best tasting bean-to-cup coffee experience, Ashley recommends that, subject to throughput, customers should opt for a small, table-top vending unit.

"We've found that bean-to-cup coffee is at its optimum quality when it is vended from our table-top machines," explains Ashley. "The smaller machines hold a lower number of beans which means they have to be re-stocked regularly, ensuring that the ingrediants are always fresh.

"Although its popularity is on the increase, bean-to-cup coffee still makes up a relatively small proportion of our hot bevergares," says Ashley. "Around 15 per cent of the coffee currently vended from our machines is bean-to-cup, but this figure will increase. Coffee drinkers have more options available to them now than ever before and with the comprehensive range of products that we can offer, we are ideally placed to cater for their needs."