Interesting piece in Shares issue March 3 p39 on this company which has invented a new-style vending machine. It listed on AIM last wednesday. I thought when I read about it that I'd put it on my watch list, but I can't find its EPIC anywhere it's not coming up on the MoneyAM quote finder. Can anyone help?

Thanks, ramu. I can see myself investing in this sometime but I think I'll watch and wait for a while first.

This is the article:

According to Barry Marks, if youve spent
the last 25 years in the vending machine
business, believe me, you know what
youre dealing with. Marks is chief
executive of In-Cup Plus and the brains behind a
new vending machine design that he predicts is
going to revolutionise the whole business of hot
drinks delivery.
After years spent nutting out the design from
cardboard cut-outs on his living room floor and two
years of perfecting the final prototype, Marks is
finally taking his business public with a listing on
AIM this week, along with a 1.5 million raising. All
the funds raised will be spent on sales and
marketing, adding eight new staff members and
increasing the advertising spend on
the machine.
Efforts to date have resulted in
the sale of 60 machines, providing
the company with a modest
revenue base from which it says it
can move towards critical mass
within nine months.
The In-Cup machine is said to be
the first truly new vending machine
design since the invention of the
KLIX machine by Mars, which has remained
relatively unchanged since its launch 25 years ago.
In spite of this, Marks says there are countless
flaws with existing machines, not least of which is
the poor hygiene that often results from operating
antiquated machines that require frequent
servicing.
A recent government paper found 80% of existing
drinks vending machines were not cleaned daily and
around 23% of nozzles were contaminated with E-coli.
Not so with In-Cups design, which requires just four
components compared with the usual 300 or so,
making it a far simpler and more hygienic option.
The machine is fitted with a detection system
that pre-orders fresh ingredient cartridges before
they run out and the simplicity of the design means
users can refill the machine themselves rather than
wait for on-site servicing. The machine costs around
3,000 half that of traditional machines.
As with the classic razors & razorblade business
model, the machines themselves are less significant
to In-Cup as a revenue source than the replacement
ingredient cartridges, which are a high-margin,
repeat-order product. Importantly, the cartridges are
designed to only work in In-Cups machines and are
covered by patent.
The group has a good pipeline of sales for the
machine, according to Marks, and has already
booked around one-third of their 2005 forecast
orders by January. The next significant target for the
group is to hit critical mass, or the point at which
In-Cup switches from a company relying on
machine sales to one relying on ingredient sales.
Theres only one question mark and that is how
long it will take us to get to critical
mass. Weve allowed one year but
we think it will happen within nine
months, says Marks. House broker
Daniel Stewart is forecasting pre-tax
profits of 576,000 in 2006, doubling
to 1.1 million in 2007.
The market for vending machines
is a lucrative one, worth 3.2 billion
in 2003, and has the advantage of
being reasonably transparent. As
vending machines typically have a life span of
around five years, theres a clear replacement cycle
in which around 20% of the market comes up for
grabs every five years.
Though starting small with just 60 machine sales
mainly to independent buyers, In-Cup has already
had some success signing customers at the top
end, and has recently signed a contract with British
Airways for a machine trial at Heathrow Airport.
Management is also in discussions with a major
international food group for an exclusive deal for
the supply of ingredients.
Evidently, Marks, has a good inkling as to how
much his business may one day be worth. When
the product was launched two years ago, three
companies approached him trying to buy the
rights to the machine. He refused and will remain
the companys largest shareholder post-flotation
with a 52% holding.
Shares rating:
In-Cup Plus
1(low)-5(high)
management: 3
market: 4
product: 5
financial strength: 1
TOTAL SCORE 13/20