Consultancy Team F: GEM vending

Brief
Gem Vending originally formed in 1968 as part of the Carter Soft Drinks company and has undergone a variety of transformations over the years emerging in 1997 as an independent company that solely concentrates on Vending Operations. The company leases, sells, fills, services and cleans vending machines to a wide variety of organisations mainly within the East Midlands area including the Universities in Nottingham, Leicester, Sheffield and Loughborough. The vending machines that Gem operates are set up to dispense cold snacks, hot drinks or cold drinks although they are also considering diversifying into vending of other types of product. Over the past two years sales through the machines in Universities have started to decline and the company are concerned that this may link to a drop in interest in the types of drinks and snacks that are dispensed. Perhaps because students are becoming more health conscious and the machines do not offer the right kind of snack.

What the client currently thinks they want to know

What type of eating/snacking habits do postgraduate students have? What types of snacks are students interested in buying through vending machines? Are there other products that students would like to be able to buy via a vending machine on university premises? Where should vending machines be ideally located on campus to ensure greatest sales?