Selecta credited a recovery in its private sector vending business as boosting first quarter sales | Photo credit: Selecta Group

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Selecta Group has posted a strong start to 2023 amid the sustained recovery of travel hub, retail and workplace footfall following the pandemic.
 
Reporting its first quarter results for 2023, Selecta said group sales rose 11.7% year-on-year to reach €309.1m ($339.3m).
 
The Swiss vending group said revenues were driven by a recovery in its private sector business, which posted 14.7% sales growth, and a strong performing public sector, which saw revenues rise 10.6%.
 
Cost discipline and ‘structural productivity gains’, which Selecta has previously stated included the removal of underperforming machines, drove a 17.2% rise in group EBITDA to €53.1m ($58.1m), Selecta added, with daily sales per machine growing 30.5% year-on-year to reach a ‘record’ €12.5 ($13.7).
 
Selecta also highlighted a new contract with UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s, which saw the installation of 97 premium coffee solutions during the period.
 
In Italy, Selecta extended the existing contract with ENI, a leading petroleum and energy company, with over 1,600 ‘coffee and impulse solutions’.
 
“Despite the challenging economic environment, we delivered a strong start to 2023 by keeping client needs at the core of our business and maintaining cost discipline. We continue to focus on our Foodtech offering to meet the changing needs of today’s workforce and see strong growth in these modern solutions,” said Christian Schmitz, Selecta Group CEO.
 
Selecta’s strong first quarter marks a continuation of its better-than-expected full-year results, which saw the vending giant achieve 13% group sales growth to reach €1.2bn.
 
The Cham-based automated coffee and food vending operator offers a variety of travel hub, workplace and public sector self-serve coffee solutions across the Starbucks We Proudly Serve, Nescafé, Lavazza, Pelican Rouge and Miofino brands.