With a turnover of almost € 4 billion (€ 3.94 billion) and over 12 billion total consumptions, the market for automatic distribution of food and beverages and portioned coffee (capsules and pods) in Italy has ended 2018 with 4.7% growth compared to 2017. This is what emerges from the latest CONFIDA sector study, carried out in collaboration with Accenture. Coffee is the most consumed product of the automatic industry, with 86% of heat volumes, which correspond to 2.8 billion consumptions (+1.68 compared to 2017). But what is most striking are the consumption areas: with 12 thousand machines installed in 2018 alone, in Italy there are now 822,175 vending machines installed, a record that in addition to putting Italy first, followed by France and Germany, places the Automatic Distribution at the top of the distribution and sales channels to the final consumer: a figure that also beats all sale and consumption stores of the large-scale retail channel put together, to give an example.