Beverages at work: now more than ever! New research confirms that a core group of customers are increasing their consumption of coffee and bottled water in the work place. Research also indicates some needs, such as specialty coffee, are not being met.(THE CASE FOR VENDING, PART 6)

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TALKING POINTS

* The recession has increased many consumers' reliance on refreshment beverages at work.

* Employees who value beverages at work are highly appreciative of employers who make them available.

* Consumption of regular coffee and bottled water has increased in the work place.

* Specialty coffee in the work place offers an opportunity for refreshment service operators.

Coffee drinkers, especially frequent coffee drinkers, consider availability of coffee at work to be "very" to "extremely" important. This was one of the findings of the research conducted by Harris Interactive on beverage consumption trends presented at the National Automatic Merchandising Association Coffee Service Education Summit in Cherry Hill, N.J. earlier this summer.

Another significant finding was that consumption of bottled water at work has increased dramatically over the past year, outpacing all other beverages. During the same period, coffee consumption held steady overall while there was a drop in soda/iced tea, hot chocolate/iced tea and specialty coffee drinks.

The Harris Interactive research reinforced some of the findings reported earlier this year in Automatic Merchandiser's "Case for Vending" series, beginning in January. Automatic Merchandiser extracted some of the findings of the Harris Interactive research …