Whatever happened to Moderation?

It seems today that most people need help from the government in selecting food options for a snack, at least from Vending Machines! Or at least that seems to be what we are being told. The move to let people know how awful the choices have been in Vending Machines today, makes me wonder “Whatever happened to Moderation”? It’s funny to ask around the office what snack or mid meal morsel gets people through the day. Some like it salty, some just need a apple, some like a candy bar or a granola bar or trail mix. We are all different in the individual needs of our personal chemistry.

Why have vending machines become such a scapegoat for some of the bigger issues we have in society? Too much of anything is rarely a good thing, but with moderation and balance there are many things we can enjoy in life.

Thanks again for all your support!

Steve Fischer

President

HEALTHY FOOD FOR KIDS

Just wondering what you guys think of this product? Any interest in purchasing? We are thinking about bringing them in and would like some input. We currently carry a lot of the Hormel 10oz regular Compleats.

Nutrition:

Hormel® Compleats® Kids Spaghetti and Meatballs

• Serving Size: 198g
• Servings Per Containers: Varied
• Per Serving:
• Calories: 200
• Calories from Fat: 50
• Total Fat: 6g
• Saturated Fat: 2g
• Cholesterol: 20mg
• Sodium: 590mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 27g
• Dietary Fiber: 3g
• Sugars: 10g
• Protein: 10g
• Vitamin A: 10%
• Vitamin C: 0%
• Calcium: 2%
• Iron: 4%

• Ingredients: Tomatoes (Water, Tomato Paste), Enriched Spaghetti (Water, Enriched Semolina [Wheat, Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid], Egg Whites, Wheat Gluten, Glyceryl Monostearate), Water, Cooked Meatballs (Beef, Pork, Water, Textured Vegetable Protein [Soy Protein Concentrate, Caramel Color], Bread Crumbs [Wheat Flour, Sugar, Yeast, Salt, Soybean Oil], Salt, Sugar, Spices, Flavorings, Garlic Powder), Carrots, Sugar, Contains 2% or less of Modified Cornstarch, Dietary Fiber (Partially Hydrolyzed Guar Gum), Potato Starch, Nonfat Dry Milk, Flavoring, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Autolyzed Yeast, Flavor (Autolyzed Yeast, Salt, Olive Oil, Citric Acid), Flavor (Yeast Extract, Natural Flavor, Salt), Citric Acid, Spices, Dextrose, Oleoresin of Paprika, Dehydrated Cheddar Cheese (Cheddar Cheese [Cultured Milk, Salt, Enzymes], Disodium Phosphate, Salt, Lactic Acid), Tartaric Acid.

FIRST THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day, currently celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, has been an annual tradition in the United States since 1863. Thanksgiving was historically a religious observation to give thanks to God.

The event that Americans commonly call the first Thanksgiving was celebrated to give thanks to God for helping the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony survive their first brutal winter in New England. The first Thanksgiving feast lasted three days, providing enough food for 53 pilgrims and 90 Native Americans. The feast consisted of fish (cod, eels, and bass) and shellfish (clams, lobster, and mussels), wild fowl (ducks, geese, swans, and turkey), venison, berries and fruit, vegetables (peas, pumpkin, beetroot and possibly, wild or cultivated onion), harvest grains (barley and wheat), and the Three Sisters: beans, dried Indian maize or corn, and squash.

HAPPY TURKEY DAY FROM ALL OF US HERE AT VEND NORTHWEST TO ALL OF YOU!!!!

HORMEL MICROWAVABLES

Hey Guys now is the time to fill those vending machines of yours with yummy warm comfort food that has a long shelf life so you won’t have to throw it away, also a great filler for “cold food” machines!!!
Here is our line of Microwavable products that we have in stock everyday!!
Call and place an order today!!

HOT FOOD / SOUPS
Order # N/P/H Description Size U/M WK1 WK2 WK3 WK4 Pallet Price Unit Price

HORMEL FOODS
45706 Chili w/Beans 7.5 oz $12.00 $ 1.000

02147 Clam Chowder 7.5 oz $10.05 $ 0.838
03159 Chicken Soup 7.5 oz $10.17 $ 0.848

42013 Spaghetti 7.5 oz $12.00 $ 1.000
41987 Lasagna 7.5 oz $12.00 $ 1.000

LARGE 10oz ENTRÉE

23013 Hormel Chicken Brst/Mashed 10 oz $11.69 $ 1.948

18737 Hormel Lasagna Entrée 10 oz $11.69 $ 1.948
35031 Hormel Chicken Alfredo 10 oz $11.69 $ 1.948

30323 Hormel Meatloaf/Mashed Potatoes 10 oz $11.69 $ 1.948
48279 Hormel Beef Tips W/Mashed 10 oz $11.69 $ 1.948


51546 Hormel Santa FE Chicken 10 oz $11.69 $ 1.948


CURT WOKAL
VP OF OPERATIONS
VEND NORTHWEST DISTRIBUTING
SKYPE CURTIS.WOKAL
OFFICE 1-503-262-8288
FAX 503-262-8243
CELL 360-521-4722
WWW.VENDNORTHWEST.BLOGSPOT.COM

COMPASS GROUP GOBBLES UP ANOTHER INDEPENDENT

Hey Guys just wanted to let you all know that the Compass Group (Canteen Refreshments) has bought out another one of the soon to be extinct Independent Vending Companies. This time the victim was Fred Lee Distributing in Salem, Oregon. Unconfirmed sources say that Fred Lee had up to 10 vending routes and Canteen got it down to 3 by their standards. This is just another in the long list of Independent Distributors that have either became franchises or corporate accounts of the International Conglomo known as Compass Group. This is just another reason why I always tell you guys how important it is to be involved in your local and national vending trade groups. We all need to band together so that we are able to respond to events in the industry with one organized voice. Keep up the good fight peeps!!! Curt

GOLF SIGNUPS

Ok people 4 days left to get a hold of us and put your name in for the golf on Saturday!! But just remember if you don't sign up that just gives me a much better chance to win all of the fantastic prizes that we have amassed for this years awards!! :-) I can't wait to see you all on Saturday out at Lewis River!!! Curt

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Happy Thursday people. There are some things going on at present that reminds me of how important Customer Service can be to the sustainability of all of our companies.
Not only is it important that all of us provide outstanding products to our customers but also maintain a level of Customer Service that should not be surpassed by our competition. Although I personally would hope that everyone receives great customer service no matter where they purchase, sometimes for one reason or another some companies have or strive to maintain the minimum levels of Great Customer Service. I don't know if this trend is because of profitability, quality of workers, time it takes to accomplish this or what? I just know that personally for us at Vend Northwest this has always been the owners "pet peeve" and the rest of us as a company diligently work very hard at making sure that we do not "cross" their paths on this standard.
A lot of times customers are even willing to pay a little more just for the peace of mind knowing that they are working with a company that truly "has their back". This is also one of the reasons I chose the tag line "Taking Business Personally One Customer At A Time". It really does sum up Vend Northwest perfectly. When dealing with even the most "difficult" customers it is important to realize and remember that they too make your paycheck possible and they deserve the same level of respect and service as your "easiest" customer. We can all sell a cracker or bag of chips to somebody but it is a totally different feeling when a customer actively searches YOU out to buy their product from you solely because of your reputation for understanding and caring about them, your customer.
Anyway I just wanted to quickly remind us all of how important maintaining customer service was to the prosperity of our business's.
On another note, My wedding is 10 days from today and i can't even think straight i have so much going on!! A lot of you i will see at the wedding and the rest of you i wanted to thank for all of the well wishes and prayers that you have given to me regarding the event! (i might not remember to thank you later) :-)

Regards
Curt Wokal

AUTOMAT YAKIMA FILLS OTHERWISE DEAD SPACE

Automat in Yakima Washington has come up with a revenue maker for themselves and their customer "Valley Mall" in Union Gap Washington. The mall is going thru several changes in upgrades trying to attract more and diverse exciting customers and businesses to their facility.The mall approached Jeff Hemp (Automat) about filling some store front vacancies until they could get them leased out to clients. Jeff and his design team came up with a Vending machine "bank" that was both innovative and attractive that would fill the otherwise un-sightly and empty space, all along providing undiscovered revenue for the Mall and Automat Vending. The end result was this "bank" of machines you see in the above picture. I thought this story was noteworthy because of all of our customers that have machines in various malls thru out the states that we service. This is a great idea for both the vendor and their customers, so if you have any of these locations with "empty" storefronts you might want to approach them with this idea!!

BRILLIANT job Jeff!!!! KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!!!!

Regards
Curt

MOVING PRODUCT AROUND

Now is a great time to start moving product around from one machine to another, especially in "school" related machines as these types of institutions will soon be out for summer break and why spend the money on new product when the product in these machines are still good.
This can save hundreds of dollars to your bottom line and help you potentially move some product that typically doesn't go so well.
This is just me trying to save our customers some money. This is also always a good idea when you have product in some machines that isn't moving. Swap into another one and another and another till you find the perfect fit for that product!!

Curt

MANUFACTURER DEMO

Hey Peeps, We wanted to let you know that we will have a representative from Kellogs, Biscomerica, Poor Bros, Brownie Baker, Gavina Coffee, Marachaun and Mrs Freshley in the warehouse next Wednesday the 26th and Thursday the 27th between the hours of 10 AM and 2 PM. They will be handing out samples and answering any questions that you may have regarding purchasing programs and rebates as well as general knowledge questions about their products. So don't miss this! It's a great opportunity for you to voice your compliments and complaints. You might also recieve some "deals" for the two days that they are here!!! Curt

E-THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY AUGUST 20, 2009

Good day fellow vending enthusiast,

How many times have you heard or read something like this? Attention entrepreneurs: How would you like to work from home, be your own boss, set your own hours, and earn good pay?

The vending machine business is hot right now, and you have the opportunity to receive a big return on a small dollar investment. Does this sound too good to be true? They usually are, sometimes several times a day people come into the warehouse stuck in a "turn key" business that they were talked into during some seminar they attended.

Advertisements for vending machine sales often appear in the classified pages of daily and weekly newspapers, magazines, online, or in television infomercials. All advertisements claim to make you a generous, six-figure, side or full-time income.

The promoters will sell you the vending machines and promise you placement in highly-populated companies, malls, airport terminals, bowling alleys, or other public facilities. They'll convince you that these hot locations are going fast, so it's best to buy multiple machines from them now to secure the best locations. Most of the machines that they offer to sell you (for way to much money) do not even have the capacity for you to make your money back on your investment! Other than collecting huge amounts of money from the machines each week, your responsibilities as a vending-machine entrepreneur include: restocking, cleaning, and repairing the machines.

After investing thousands of dollars in vending machines and inventory, most of the people that bought into the "scam" say that they received poor quality equipment or the machines were placed in very poor or nothing like what was promised locations!

People who've invested in vending machine sales rarely make the big money they're promised. In fact, these entrepreneurs generally lose their entire investment.
Now i know allot of you are in the business already, but those of you that are checking the blog just to pick up on news and ideas about the industry. Before you "buy" into one of these scams, please take this into consideration.

• Buy one vending machine at a time and see how each one does. If you have success with the first one, you can buy another.
• Buy a vending machine from someone in the business or a vending machine store, we( Vend Northwest) actually have a bulletin board in the warehouse that we allow customers to put up signs for equipment that they would like to sell. Come down someday and check it out!
  

• Beware of variations of the vending machine scam such as selling amusement games, or racks with items for sale such as small toys, greeting cards, or cosmetics.

We all would like to think the best about everything, but there are people out there that prefer to take the "easy" way out when it comes to making money. So please just do your homework when getting into any new business and remember if it seems to good to be real..........it is!


Regards
Curt Wokal

HEAT AND HEALTHY SCHOOL LIST

Hey guys, its gonna be HOT again this week so make sure you are doing everything you can to protect your inventory from extreme heat. Actually drastic temperature changes in either direction can effect the look and consistency of your chocolate. Make sure you are up to speed on all of the NEW approved "healthy" products for your school accounts. Give us a call or come in and pick up a list of the 2009/2010 school approved products. Curt

THOUGHT ON PROCRASTINATION

Does making a decision hold you back from succeeding? Are you a procrastinator when it comes to deciding how to proceed? Do you continue to weigh the pros and cons of a certain outcome? Are you stuck in the middle of the decision making process? If you are anxious, stressed, scatter-brained, and unable to focus, you are in need of a thorough makeover in how to make a decision and live with the outcome. Correct this flaw in your personality profile, and you will become a stronger version of your former self. One of the ways that helps me deal with procrastination is through reading! I know, I know.....you ask how does that help? I really have no idea other than reading gives me great ideas on how to do things. Anyway that was it, I just wanted to give you guys something to think about over the weekend! :) By the way this is one of the biggest complaints I get about the competition( if they are reading this, they should talk about it in one of their meetings) their sales people's inability to or length of time it takes to get an answer on something one way or the other. I hope you all have a SUPER FANTASTIC WEEKEND!! Curt

E-THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY AUGUST 13, 2009

Good day fellow vending enthusiast. Today's E-Thought is about trust and co operation.Traditionally based supplier/customer relationships for better or worse are changing dramatically in these unprecedented economic times.
Long term relationships are now being based on total cost, trust, innovation, and flexibility. We could all use any help or tools that may be available to us in order to make the changes from a supplier based management perspective to a relationship based management perspective.
For us at Vend Northwest we understand that in order to not only sustain but more importantly succeed in this environment, we need all of you to accomplish this. Thus the Blog.
Innovation lies within the Blog itself, with its virtually unlimited tools for communication sharing there should be nothing overlooked or not said. The potential to speak candidly about topics that are important to all of us is there.
Hopefully you all feel that I trust you guys enough to be able to say the things that I need to say, in the way that I need to say them. Because I do say what I need to say in my own way in every Blog that I post. I know that you all trust in me by the many comments and emails that I receive every time that I post a new blog. I truly believe that by open, honest communication and the sharing of resources, we will all benefit and become more successful. The more that we learn and grow and share with each other, the easier it will be for all of us to become better relationship managers and shift the balance from managing customers and suppliers to managing our business and the relationships that we all will need to thrive. We want this Blog to be a tool used by everyone to learn and grow from. Always remember that the only thing that limits us are the limits that we put on ourselves.

Regards
Curt Wokal

INTENSELY DIFFERENT KETTLE CHIP

There is nothing Poor about the flavor of our new Three Cheese Jalapeno kettle chip from Poore Brothers! The flavor of these chips is truly "intensely different". Your customers will be Begging you to put 2 rows in!! They come with at least a 3month shelf life and are priced in the same category as Tato Skins. Available NOW!!!!

UBER THE TOP PRETZEL !!!!

We are totally TWISTED about our new relationship with PretzelHaus Bakery! They produce the world's BEST shelf stable pretzel and we are excited to offer our customers all 3 of the flavors. They are all 6oz and come in "salted", "plain" , and Cinnamon/sugar. These are great for cold food machines or regular snack machines as NO refrigeration is necessary for the entire 6 months of their shelf life.

NEW ROCKSTAR FLAVOR

We are very excited about our latest addition to our family of Rockstars!! Juiced "Guava" is one of the fastest moving energy drinks in the Retail channel and I'm sure it won't take long to make it's way up to the top of the Vending channel either! So c'mon down and stock up so that your customers can "Party Like A Rockstar"

Curtis Wokal Operations Manager Vend NW Dist.

HOT POCKET TACO STIX ON SALE

Hey guy's we have Nestle Hot Pocket 3oz TACO/PIZZA STIX on sale for .43 a unit!! GREAT DOLLAR VEND ITEM !!

Short Video Of Warehouse

Hey Guys, here is a short clip of our cash&carry warehouse in portland,Or 12505 NE Marx St. 97230