Vending, out-of-home consumption far from pre-Covid

25% less consumption together with the 45% drop in sales of Made in Italy vending machines, compared to 2019. Added to these data are the critical issues of public concessions which have become increasingly costly and with most tenders not updating estimates on the evolution of consumption. This is the photograph that emerges from the 15th edition of the General States of the sector organized by Confida, the Italian automatic distribution association, in Rome at Confcommercio. A sector with over 3,000 management companies and more than 33 thousand employed in related industries, which is dealing with inflation, the spread of smart working and the decline in industrial production given that 37% of vending consumption takes place in the manufacturing sector.

In detail, Italian vending went from 4.9 billion consumptions in 2019 to 3.7 billion in 2025 with a 24.9% decline confirmed and slightly worsened in the first eight months of 2026. In fact, between January and June of this year, and despite two more working days, 2.378 billion consumptions were recorded (-0.5% compared to the same period in 2025). The fleet of cars active in Italy also decreased by 2.7% in the same period, going from 757,000 to 737,000 units.

Another sore point were the public concessions which represent 18% of the sector's turnover but are becoming increasingly uneconomic. In fact, to install a vending machine in the public administration, a company must participate in a tender, obtain a concession and pay a fee to the entity. But concession fees have increased exponentially over the years, going from a sort of reimbursement for the use of water and electricity to significant charges to pay. All this while consumption has reduced and with competitions often lacking in preparation. According to the results of ADRfirm research for Confida presented to the States General, out of a sample of 153 public tenders announced between 2023 and 2026, only 9.2% update the value of the concession in consideration of the evolution of consumption and users, without therefore taking into account the growing impact of smart working and the change in the food offer generated by the introduction of the Cams, the minimum environmental criteria. Another critical issue that emerged in the public tenders analyzed is the absolute lack of rewards for technological investment in machines. Only 3.9% of these tenders last longer than 5 years with an average amortization of new vending machines of 7 years. In 56.2% of cases there is no matrix of the risks borne by the participant while 68.8% of the tenders do not even include an economic-financial plan. In light of the results of the research, Massimo Trapletti, president of Confida, calls for "a discussion with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and Anac to improve the quality of the tenders and introduce tools capable of safeguarding the economic-financial balance of the concessions that regulate our activity within the public administrations".

In addition to consumption, however, the crisis also affects the Made in Italy vending machine industry which recorded a 45% decrease in sales compared to 2019, also due to Asian competition. We went from 49,802 new vending machines sold in Italy in 2019 to 27,453 in 2025. An even more alarming figure if we take into account that 70% of production is exported. Thus, the weakness of the domestic market is compounded by the strong pressure from Asian producers who in some cases offer products at prices 30% lower than those in Italy. A reduction that is often achieved thanks to failure to comply with community regulations on energy efficiency, refrigerant gases, CE marking and industrial property.