Snack-a-Can the No.1 selling mini-can brand


The Vending Revolutions long held reputation for quality and performance stems from its commitment to in-depth research and development with meticulous attention to detail in every area of our business. The development of our highly successful Snack-a-Can product range is a good example of this obsession for perfection and to be the best.

The Snack-a-Can brand is the result of extensive market research to create a brand that is modern and progressive yet familiar and memorable. Names, logos and graphics were tested and evaluated in hundreds of locations before the final winning combination evolved. The label designs have been carefully created to allow the customer to instantly recognise the can content without reading the product description. Unlike cheap clear flexible containers that have a milky appearance that makes the products look pale, insipid and unappetising, our high resolution, gloss laminated can labels are actually photo enhanced and +8% colour saturated to produce an intense product image.

This technique is extensively used by major food companies to enhance the appearance of their products and increase sales. It is for this reason very few products come in transparent packaging unless you need to give the appearance of "bargain basement" products. A further important reason for us is to compensate for the effects of the vending machine globe that naturally tones down the resolution and colour of the cans within the globe. This solution ensures the product images on the cans look sharp, colourful and irresistible and encourages more sales.

To succeed you need a GREAT product – and GREAT packaging too!

A great brand name and a memorable logo is fundamental in creating a strong image, confidence and sales demand, but this also creates high expectations for the product that must also be totally fulfilled if repeat sales are to follow. The Snack-a-Can product range is the result of two years extensive market research and field trials prior to our launch. The final proven range of top quality, top selling products became the UK number one mini-can brand within just 5 months of launch. To maintain our position as number one, we are committed to ongoing product range development and have been finalising an exciting supplemental range, to be launched in July 2008, that will extend our consumer appeal, and sales, across an even wider market – watch this space!

To ensure our customers are kept fully informed of our new product introductions and to give them the opportunity to give feedback and suggestions to us, we launched our new consumer website www.snackacan.com. This quality site allows customers to link to our Customer Services Manager where they are fully supported. The site also allows sites to request a free Snack-a-Can Tower for their workplace or business.



A professional packaging solution

Without doubt our success would not have been possible without the correct packaging solution. During our two years of trials we experimented with many packaging solutions including plastics. The attraction of plastic was cost - it is a cheap and simple solution that can be successful in certain packaging applications. Unfortunately, it soon became apparent that the clear tubs were not up to the job in a vending machine.

The major problem we encountered concerned the deterioration of the product in the plastic tubs due to light and the ‘glasshouse' effect. Being a translucent plastic, light and sunrays were damaging the product causing the product colour to start fading in a few days as well as affecting the taste of the product. Even worse, the tubs were acting as mini greenhouses and heating up, even if the location was relatively cool, causing the product to melt and ruin. Further problems included the appearance of the product in the tubs. The opaque milky visual appearance of polypropylene makes the product look old and unappetising turning sales off.

The final serious problem concerned our nut and savoury products that were starting to go stale within days of packaging. In light of these serious problems and limitations we knew we would never be able to maximise the true potential of our Snack-a-Can product range without a professional packaging solution.



To solve these serious problems and to eventually be able to realise our objectives, we turned to packaging industry experts to come up with a professional solution. The only solution was the industry standard Metal Composite can. Used extensively by every major food company around the world, the Metal Composite can is a complex high tech design consisting of a pressed metal base, rigid fibreboard central core lined with aluminium foil and finished with a PE (polyethylene) film and finally a suitable label on the exterior. The can would then be sealed with an aluminium foil lid that is also lined with a PE film that will be hermetically welded in place to form an airtight container.

If this type of can seems familiar to you, it is because it is a very popular packaging solution used by household names such as Pringles, Cadburys, Nestles, Mars, Jacobs, McVites, Bisto, Big D Nuts and Smash, to name but a few, for packaging a wide variety of confectionery, savoury and processed foods – just visit any supermarket and have look on the shelves and you will see just how popular Metal Composite cans are with professional food companies.



Metal Composite cans are considerably more expensive than plastic, but offer a lightweight yet immensely strong container that can be gas tight sealed to ensure the product has a long storage life and arrives to the customer in prime condition. The complex design of the Metal Composite can allows it to take advantage of the very latest in food packing technology – MAP/F Protected Atmosphere Packaging.

If you look on the side of many packaged savoury products such as crisps and nuts, you will notice the expression "Packed in a protective atmosphere". This refers to a state of the art process that removes the standard atmospheric air we breathe and replaces it with 100% food grade Nitrogen Gas. The reason for this process is due to the oxygen in the air deteriorating (oxidising) the product, in lay terms "going stale", by replacing the normal air in the can with nitrogen, oxidisation is prevented and the product remains in prime condition until it is opened and enjoyed by the customer.



The cans we have manufactured for Snack-a-Can are manufactured by one of the biggest specialist can companies in the world and are made to the highest standards of hygiene and quality using our own custom tooling. Unlike other food companies, we wanted our cans to project an image of high quality and luxury, to achieve this we have the cans finished with a high gloss laminated photo finish label. This level of finish makes the cans very expensive to produce, but makes the finished product feel very special and excellent value for money. The cans are sealed with a gold finished aluminium foil lid further enhancing the quality feel.



The MAP/F packaging line

Coming up with the answers is only half the problem solved. The next stage was to find equipment manufacturers who could build the unique MAP/F packaging line for our cans. After speaking with specialist companies as far away as India and China we found two British companies who lead the industry and supply custom made lines to all the major food producers. The first company was able to produce a fully automated, computer controlled, high-speed weigher/filler that was capable of handling our wide range of present and future products and fully complied with all Weights and Measures legislation for the packing the "Average Weight" method. The second company is the world leader in Modified Atmosphere packing lines and was able to design and build a unique fully automated computer controlled packing line capable of packing over 10 million cans per year.

Together theses two pieces of technology, have given us a state of the art packaging line that are as good any in the world. Our initial investment in our establishing our packaging facility exceeded £1/3million, with a further substantial investment for the purchase of a new double packing line due on stream mid to late 2008. These additional 2 packing lines will ensure we can cope with our constantly growing demand and our planned new product range that launches later this year.

To house our new packaging line we acquired a brand new 5,000sq ft production and distribution facility in our home town of Bourne in Lincolnshire, but within a few months the overwhelming demand for Snack-a-Can products and the need to double production to keep up with customer demand, forced us to acquire another 3,500sq ft warehousing facility on the same business park.