Katie Waxman, Author at Total Vend

Consider Updating Your Louisville Break Room

Posted on April 30, 2018May 3, 2018 by Katie Waxman

The workplace including the office break room is changing. After the pendulum swung from everyone working at the office to a dramatic jump in remote employees, the pendulum is settling somewhere in the middle. Louisville companies are bringing their employees back to the office in hopes of fostering face-to-face collaboration, inspiring innovation, and increasing productivity. And thankfully, it isn’t back into cubeville or the dark, sparsely-decorated break room hidden somewhere at the back of the building. Companies are redesigning their environments to be open, communal areas with spaces designed to promote spontaneous work-related conversations and increase morale.

One area that is no longer left as an afterthought is the office break room. To learn more about what your Louisville employees need and want, try surveying them. They know what they want. A recent Staples survey found that “83 percent of employees say that a well-stocked break room results in happier employees, while 53 percent say that a well-stocked break room results in more productive employees.”

In 2018, there are a wide variety of options available including cafe-style coffee service and the micro-market.

Micro-Market

open concept “mini” store using open shelving, glass-front coolers, and self-checkout technology
offers employees the option to read nutrition labels and make educated decisions about what to eat or drink
highlights the opportunity to make healthy choices by offering fresh and nutritious sandwiches, wraps, salads, snacks and beverages, fresh produce, and yogurt
includes a wide variety of choices which acknowledge that employees have distinct preferences and unique work schedules

Cafe-Style Coffee Service

Creates a gourmet coffee-house experience without leaving the office
Includes a variety of teas and specially sourced coffee beans and locally roasted coffees creating a unique coffee experience
Uses different brewing systems including single-cup brewers, traditional brewers, and commercial brewers

Which options will your employees prefer? Think of Total Vend as a partner that can help with your Louisville vending needs through the services that we offer. To learn more about cafe-style coffee service or the micro-market, contact us at 502.451.0111. We look forward to collaborating with you.

Louisville Consumers Prefer Bottled Water

Posted on April 15, 2018May 3, 2018 by Katie Waxman

For the first time in history, bottled water is the No.1 packaged beverage in the United States (by volume). People are shifting away from less healthy packaged drinks and choosing the healthy option—bottled water.

– Jill Culora, International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), Vice President of Communications

According to a recent study by the IBWA, more than 63 percent of Americans choose bottled water as their beverage of choice. And 94 percent of Americans believe that bottled water is healthier than soft drinks. But what exactly does the phrase ‘bottled water’ mean? The definition is more complex than it might initially seem.

Per the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), bottled water is a consumer food product; which means that strict standards of identity must be followed in order to legally call a bottle filled with water ‘bottled water’. The FDA requires that the “type” of water must be clearly printed on the label of all bottled water sold in the United States. To understand the FDA’s classifications, it is important to know the following terms.

Spring Water: “Derived from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to the surface, this water must be collected only at the spring or through a borehole that taps the underground formation feeding the spring. If some external force is used to collect the water through a borehole, the water must have the same composition and quality as the water that naturally flows to the surface.”

Purified Water: “Bottled water that has been treated by distillation, reverse osmosis, or another suitable process may meet standards that allow it to be labeled as “purified water.””

Mineral Water: “This water comes from an underground source and contains at least 250 parts per million total dissolved solids. Minerals and trace elements must come from the source of the underground water. They cannot be added later.”

Artesian Water/Artesian Well Water: “This water is collected from a well that taps an aquifer—layers of porous rock, sand, and earth that contain water—which is under pressure from surrounding upper layers of rock or clay. When tapped, the pressure in the aquifer, commonly called artesian pressure, pushes the water above the level of the aquifer, sometimes to the surface. Other means may be used to help bring the water to the surface.”

Well Water: “This is water from a hole bored or drilled into the ground, which taps into an aquifer.”

Understanding the different water sources and methods of extraction will help Louisville employees answer questions about the taste, quality, and safety of a specific type of water. This is especially important as 82 percent of Americans think they should drink more water and 90 percent believe that bottled water is a healthy and convenient beverage.

To help your Louisville employees stay hydrated and healthy, make sure to include bottled water in your office break room vending machine. It not only keeps everyone hydrated and satiated, but it’s also a great moral booster. For more information about adding healthy vending machines to your Louisville break room, call Total Vend at 502.451.0111.

Louisville, What Is Your Favorite Break Room Snack?

Posted on March 30, 2018May 20, 2018 by Katie Waxman

Everyone has that one favorite “not-so-healthy” snack that they enjoy every now and then. While we’ve all heard that moderation is key, deciding whether to go healthy or not can be quite the dilemma. Often Louisville consumers want to eat healthy, but at the same time, they want to enjoy their favorite sweet or salty guilty pleasure.

Many of Louisville’s favorite sweet and salty snacks have been around for more than 30 years and include:

Confections (chocolate, candy, etc.): PEZ (1950), Swedish Fish (late 1950s), Nerds (1983), anything made with chocolate
Salty: sunflower seeds, Cheese Balls (1980s), Combos (mid 1970s), Goldfish, Doritos (1974), Pringles (1975), chips, crackers
Cookies and Snack Cakes: Famous Amos cookies (1975), animal crackers (1902), rice krispies treats, Oatmeal Cream Pies (1960), Oreos, Pop-tarts (1964)
Other snacks: Dippin’ Dots (1987), Fruit Roll-ups (1991) or fruit snacks, granola bars, Milk ‘n’ Cereal Bars or breakfast bars (1990s – early 2000s)

If Louisville employees are looking, however, for something that’s a little healthier, there are a lot of healthy sweet and salty options available too. Healthier snack options include fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, popcorn, squeezable yogurt tubes, yogurt smoothies, pre-packaged organic meal kits, salsa, and hummus. Many of these healthy snacks can also be combined to create a healthy mini-meal when there isn’t enough time for a sit down meal.

Whether your Louisville employees are craving something healthy or “not-so-healthy,” many of these snacks can be found all day in the office break room micro-market or vending machine. Providing an easily accessible, onsite location where all types of snacks and beverages including office coffee service are available is just one benefit that lets your employees know they are valuable.

Don’t forget to offer refreshing beverages along with both healthy and not-so-healthy snacks. It’s important to keep your employees hydrated as well as satiated. To learn more about the many different types of break room snack and beverage options in Louisville, call Total Vend at 502.451.0111.

Quick and Healthy Snacks in Your Louisville Vending Machine

Posted on March 15, 2018April 4, 2018 by Katie Waxman

Are you looking for something to eat that is quick and healthy, and can be found in your Louisville break room vending machine? Whether it’s a quick breakfast, fuel for a lunchtime workout, an afternoon snack, or a sweet treat, a KIND® bar can meet each one of those needs. Each bar is made from nutritionally-dense ingredients and contains no secret ingredients, artificial flavors, preservative or sweeteners. You’ll find nuts, real fruit, chocolate, spicy and savory flavors, and five super grains including oats, buckwheat, millet, amaranth, and quinoa.

And soon, you’ll be able to enjoy your favorite KIND® bar with others when you travel around the globe. In a new partnership with Mars, Incorporated, KIND will be able to expand their product offerings and business into international markets while continuing to make healthy and tasty foods available and create a kinder world through meaningful social impact initiatives.

Daniel Lubetzky, Founder and CEO of KIND, explained it best when he said, “we’re looking forward to continuing on this journey as we empower more people to make healthy eating decisions across the globe. We remain fully committed to our guiding principles, including our commitment to always use a nutritious food as the first and predominant ingredient in every food product.”

Whether enjoying a vending machine snack in Louisville or around the world, it’s nice to know that KIND will continue to fulfill its KIND Promise. Employees can continue to count on

snacks made from real food, wholesome ingredients, and sound nutrition;
nuts, whole grains, or fruit as the first and predominant ingredient;
everyone and everything being treated with integrity and kindness;
transparency about everything from ingredients to labeling;
low amounts of added sugar and no artificial sweeteners or sugar alcohols;
and tasty and healthy snacks.

An additional way to offer encouragement and support to your Louisville employees in their quest to be healthy, is to provide a wide range of healthy snacks and beverages in the office break room vending machine. Fresh fruit, unsweetened tea, or bottled water are all great accompaniments to a KIND® bar.

To learn more about adding healthy vending machine options to your office break room, call Total Vend at 502.451.0111. We look forward to hearing from you.