TL;DR:
Nate (Nathan) Erwin has been promoted to CEO of The Wittern Group, stepping up after serving as COO and bringing 18+ years of experience into the role.
Leadership Update for 2026: Nate Erwin is the new CEO of The Wittern Group
The Wittern Group is one of the longest-standing manufacturers in the vending industry, with roots going back to the 1930s and a long track record serving full-line vending operators, bottlers, and institutional accounts. The company designs and manufactures vending machines in the U.S., with a focus on reliability, serviceability, and operator economics across snack, beverage, and specialty equipment.
Today, The Wittern Group is best known for its flagship brands USI (U-Select-It) and Fawn Vend, covering snack machines, glass-front combo machines, and cold beverage vendors. These machines are commonly deployed in offices, manufacturing facilities, schools, healthcare locations, and other high-traffic environments where uptime, parts availability, and long service life matter.
Nate Erwin’s move into the CEO seat at The Wittern Group is a clear continuity signal. An internal operator who already ran day-to-day execution as COO is now owning the full direction. Wittern’s announcement positions him as the leader responsible for business operations and innovation efforts as the company continues supporting customers across vending machines and automated dispensing.
With that background, the practical expectation is tighter alignment between manufacturing execution, product roadmap, and service experience - especially as operators keep pushing for reliability, connected capabilities, and fewer friction points in the field. Nate’s own 2026 message focuses on execution, reliability, connected capabilities, and service that helps customers scale.
Congratulations Nate, on becoming CEO of The Wittern Group, and to the Wittern team on a leadership transition that keeps operational context at the center. For operators tracking vendor direction, this is the kind of change that’s worth noting when you’re planning equipment standardization, parts strategy, and route expansion assumptions for the year.
Next step for operators looking for vending locations to place their Wittern vending machines: visit Vending Village at vendingvillage.com/search