The vending machine operator industry comprises about 5000 companies with collective annual revenue of about $6 billion, reveals a report titled 'Vending Machine Operators - Industry Profile', offered by Research & Markets. These vending machine operators include top companies such as Coca-Cola, Compass Group, ARAMARK, and Sodexho. However, the vending machine operator industry is quite fragmented with the top 50 companies accounting for about 40 percent of industry sales.

The growth in this segment is driven by both consumer spending and growth in business, with the placement of vending machines in workplaces contributing significantly. Profitability of individual vending machine operators is dependent on numerous factors including effective merchandising, quality of service and obtaining the premium locations.

Drink vending machines mainly dispensing cold beverages account for almost 40 percent of overall vending machine sales, while candy and snacks dispensing machines account for another 30 percents. Hot beverages, hot & cold meal products, ice-creams are the other products that are increasingly being dispensed using vending machines.