Following on from our recent article detailing how vending could help pave the way for a safer workplace both now and in a post-COVID environment, we wanted to detail how the advanced and hygienic Micro Market will also have a key role to play.
The Micro Market is regarded as the revolution in workplace refreshments. It’s unlike anything ever seen before and is still way ahead of its time. There are plenty of reasons why the market is already promoting a safer, more hygienic workplace. And the list of reasons may just continue to grow moving forward.
If there is one good thing to come out of 2020, it’s emphasising the long-standing importance of hygiene. Perhaps more specifically, the importance of using hygienic facilities housed within a clean workplace.
We all know that we need to maintain good personal hygiene, including washing our hands, as a way to fight the COVID-19 virus. But keeping our workplace clean maybe doesn’t receive quite as much attention. This is a grave error, considering we will spend an average of 90,000 hours of our lives at work.
Even prior to this pandemic, Coinadrink and our Micro Market division Express Refreshments has always understood the importance of hygienic workplace facilities. Take our food hygiene standards, which go above and beyond to deliver our highly regarded fresh food service to both our fresh food vending machines and the Micro Market.
But the advanced characteristics of the market can also promote a safer working environment, even if this in an indirect benefit.
For example, the open-plan design makes it easy to social distance with colleagues. Whilst the 24-hour availability takes this even further, as it’s simple to stagger your break times accordingly.
Then there’s the self-service cashless payment terminal, which eliminates the need to come into contact with the germs that lie on coins and notes.
And as the world looks set to change forever in a post-COVID world, the Micro Market may just become even more convenient and deliver even more reassurance.
It’s forecast that one of the industries that will have to adapt the most is retail. This is because the lively nature of shopping centres and the high street could become a hotbed for the virus.
The Micro Market is already keeping workforces around the region on site with a collection of refreshments including healthy meals, snacks and cold drinks. Many of our customers also have an office coffee machine housed in their market that delivers premium hot drinks, which therefore eliminates the need to visit the coffee shop off site.
But whilst the market is a great solution for larger sites that don’t have quality refreshments available off site, it may just be required for larger sites regardless. After all, why head off site into the uncertainty of the high street for quality refreshments when they’re available in your place of work?
And, who knows, this argument could be strengthened in the future. At the moment, our Micro Markets deliver fresh food, snacks, confectionery and hot and cold drinks, but we already try and cater to your requirements. The convenience store-like design can indeed offer more niche products if we see a demand.
Having everything you need available on site isn’t just convenient. It’s reassuring, too, which is an emotion we’re sure nobody will ever underestimate again.
The Micro Market delivers another benefit. The opportunity to push flexible working. This is something that all communities will see a rise in moving forward, as a way to reduce the number of staff on site at any one time.
As we get more accustomed to flexible ways of working, it is also likely that core office hours and designated breaks will be a thing of the past, to enable employees to maintain the autonomy they have got used to while working remotely. With this in mind, it is important to implement workplace catering solutions which can keep up and the Micro Market is an accessible and progressive option for workplaces of the future.
Certainly more so than the canteen, which could get phased out as workplaces hunt for a more advanced – and more importantly a more hygienic – refreshment solution.
The Micro Market is created to be a workplace refreshment solution that’s tailored to you. Your shape and size. Your branding. Your products. Contact us about getting your workplace prepared as the country looks for a way to adapt to the “new normal”.
