European vending losses ease in autumn 2020 – EVA report

Vending sales were severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic throughout 2020, but losses in September were not as severe as in April, according to a new impact report from the European Vending and Coffee Service Association (EVA).

The Covid-19 impact report is based on survey responses from vending operators and suppliers in 15 European countries relating to the Covid-19 restrictions in place from July to October 2020. The report then contrasts the autumn impact to experiences during the spring lockdowns.

The report has been published as a combined European report, as well as seven individual country reports (Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Romania, Spain and the UK).

According to a statement from the EVA, the findings in the main impact report demonstrate that Covid-19 restrictions “continue to cast a dark shadow over our industry, but there are some slight improvements to conditions.” 

Key findings in the report include:

• 48% of operators saw a reduction in turnover in September of between 21-40%. This is a significant change compared to the April losses, when the majority of operators (58%) saw turnover losses of between 61-99%.
• Unsurprisingly, people working from home was the main reason for the loss of turnover by operators during both reporting periods.
• During the autumn period, more operators (43%) planned investments based on sales performance compared to the spring (33%).
• Despite this, only 14% of suppliers expect to register similar turnover to 2019 in April 2021, as Covid-19 continues to impact many European countries.

The full version of the Covid-19 impact report is available to EVA members via the EVA secretariat, and further information can be found on the EVA website.

The release of the new Covid-19 impact report follows on from the EVA’s latest annual market summary, released last month. This market summary was based on 2019 data, and showed that the European vending industry was delivering sustained growth until the Covid-19 pandemic. 

With the release of the annual report, the EVA stated that the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic was responsible for a significant reduction in sales, vends and turnover in 2020, and at a much higher scale than during the economic and financial crisis in 2008.