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Events

Rail strike fails to stop Brau Beviale

Walter Hufnagel, Member of the Management Board of NürnbergMesse, has every reason to be pleased: “BRAU Beviale 2007 proved its real strength and stability: The autumn get-together for the European beverage industry impressively withstood the bad combination of rail strike and the onset of winter. This definite commitment of the international experts is a big compliment for our exhibitors!”

Industry get-together in Nürnberg: seeing and being seen
According to the result of a survey by an independent institute, 97 % of the visitors from breweries and malting houses (48 %), specialists from producers and fillers of non-alcoholic drinks (+2 to 15 %), experts from dairies and winegrowers, suppliers to the brewing and beverage industry and visitors from the hotel and catering trade were thoroughly satisfied with the products on display. A good 49 % of the German visitors at the exhibition came direct from the beer country Bavaria. They were followed by far fewer experts from Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, the Rhineland Palatinate, Saxony, Lower Saxony and Thuringia. German and international visitors stood out for their high level of competence, as 88 % are decisively involved in investment decisions in their company. In close solidarity with their BRAU Beviale exhibition, almost 60 % of them planned their trip to Nürnberg two months before the exhibition and even much earlier. Over half of them used the days at the exhibition to source information about new products and as many as 70 % also want to use these in their companies. Especially important aspects for the visitors are cultivating existing business contacts and making new ones, market orientation, training, information exchange and preparing for investment decisions. The “BRAU Beviale community” in Nürnberg once again cultivated a quality that tends to be rare nowadays: In the middle of the hustle and bustle of business, they took time for each other, for a good discussion with partners, colleagues, friends or competitors to keep contacts alive and to exchange views.

Besides the comprehensive range of products from the exhibitors, BRAU Beviale 2007 offered a wealth of extra know-how in seminars, at the Exhibitors Forum or on the hot topic of energy. The ENERGY theme pavilion, organized by NürnbergMesse in its established cooperation with the Brewery Research and Training Institute (VLB) of Berlin, was visited by over 15,000 interested experts to update on issues ranging from energy production, purchasing, renewable energy, cost-cutting potentials and recovery to emission trading.

Exhibitors’ views on BRAU Beviale 2007
Altogether 45 nations were represented on the exhibitors’ side this time, headed by 860 German companies, followed by companies from Italy, Great Britain, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and the Czech Republic. 97 % of the exhibitors are satisfied with the overall success of their exhibiting activities and 94 % made new business connections, so that 83 % expect lively follow-up business from these contacts. The mood was therefore also fantastic until after midnight at the completely sold out BRAU Beviale Evening (now always on Thursday!).

Erik Homza, Director Marketing and Sales of the Slovak beverage machinery manufacturer PSS, Svidnik is highly satisfied: “We supply complete solutions and have successfully exhibited in Nürnberg since 1998. We had some 120 contacts this year – and especially important for us: 90 % of them were new customers from countries like the Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Italy, France, and even from Australia, Mexico and Chile. Was business transacted at the exhibition? Of course, certainly on our stand!”

Gregor Greger, Marketing IMI Cornelius of Langenfeld (D) : “For us as a leading manufacturer of dispensing systems, BRAU Beviale was successful – as always. We have been there for 20 years, value the targeted focus, internationality, short running time and intensity. Our stand is always an international meeting-point. This time we discussed a number of large individual projects – e.g. for the 2008 European Cup.”

Since 1978, clean work has been the trademark of Thonhauser Bio- und Hygienetechnologie of Perchtoldsdorf (A) , the company founded by Manfred Thonhauser . “We have met our customers, top manufacturers of food and drinks, at BRAU Beviale for the last 10 years. Our new products at this year’s exhibition, Persulphate Technologies (PST) for environment-friendly disinfection of beverage filling plants and Smart Track for water-free lubrication of bottle conveyor belts, attracted many inquiries from German and international customers throughout Europe, China and Central America.”

duotank, the manufacturer of beer tank systems from Waalre in Holland , presented event solutions for visitors. Office manager Sandra Peeters-Ummels : “This year, we had some 250 interesting contacts mostly with brewery customers and mainly from Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Spain, Italy, and also from Brazil. We have been present in Nürnberg practically since our company was founded in 1985. This year’s hit: our quick keg tapping systems!”

Edgar Hanken, Sales Manager Hagola Gastronomie-Technik of Goldenstedt (D) : “As a leading supplier of cooled and non-cooled bars and bar tops, we mainly approach experts from the catering trade at BRAU Beviale. 2007 was a very successful year for us and our customers. We expect the same again in 2008 judging by the good mood at the exhibition!”

20 innovative young companies were also successful on their first appearance in two attractive pavilions sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi). Opticlar of Monschau (D) stands for innovative glass washing systems for bars. Filip Vidovic, general representative : “At BRAU Beviale we convinced landlords, caterers, beverage services and brewers with their own catering facilities of the advantages of the new glass washing machine for the bar sink: The alternative to washing by hand cleans up to 26 glasses depending on size at 70° in only 45 seconds and quickly cools them down so they are ready for use again immediately.”

Consumer Favourites from Germany and the Czech Republic
The European Beer Star was awarded this year for the fourth time. The star launched jointly by the Private Brauereien Bayern, the honorary sponsor of the exhibition, and the German and European federation shone more brightly than ever in 2007. 575 beers from all over the world – 30 % more than last year – competed for the coveted award in 40 categories. Exhibitors and visitors at BRAU Beviale 2007 who appreciate a genuine beer with character also played a major role here. They tested the gold medal beers on the first day of the exhibition and selected their Consumer Favourites. Gold for Kitzmann Weißbierbock, Kitzmann Bräu KG of Erlangen (D), silver for Primator Premium Dark, Pivovar Nachod a.s. (CZ) and bronze for Aventinus, Private Weißbierbrauerei G. Schneider & Sohn GmbH of Kelheim (D).

Dynamic growth for beverage machinery made in Germany
The production volume of the some 650 German companies with their 57,500 employees is divided approximately equally between food processing machinery, which includes beverage production machinery, and packaging machinery, which includes a large share of beverage filling and beverage packaging machinery. Last year’s production volume rose by 7 % to 9.3 billion EUR (2005: 8.7 billion EUR). The industry’s upward trend with an average 80 % export rate continued without interruption in the first half of 2007. The production volume grew by 15.7 % to 4.8 billion EUR. The German association – Fachverband Nahrungsmittelmaschinen und Verpackungs-maschinen im Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau (VDMA) – expects 12 % growth for the whole year. 5 % growth is expected in 2008 due to the high basic value.

The packaging machinery subsegment expanded its share of the world market by 2 % to 22 % in 2006 and occupies the top position far ahead of Italy and the USA. At the same time, the world market volume for packaging machinery rose from 20.1 to 20.8 billion EUR (VDMA). Around one fifth of this figure is attributed to beverage packaging machinery.
The whole segment of beverage machinery essentially includes some 100 companies with 14,000 employees, which manufacture beverage packaging and beverage production machinery, including brewery machinery. With 37 % growth to almost 1.1 billion EUR, beverage machinery production in the first half of 2007 has already reached the total production volume of the whole of 2001. Last year, this segment of special machinery manufacture grew by some 14 % to 1.84 billion EUR (2005: 1.61 billion EUR); about 77 % of this figure is for beverage packaging machinery.

Big thirst for beer in Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe
1.7 billion hl of beer was brewed worldwide in 2006, almost 100 million hl or 6 % more than 2005 (Barth Hop Report 2006/07, Nürnberg). The growth came mainly from Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. China, the world’s biggest brewer (351 million hl), accounted for around half the growth. China is followed in the beer market ranking by the USA (232 million hl), Germany (107 million hl), Russia (100 million hl) and Brazil (94 million hl). The strongest growth markets in Europe are Romania, the Ukraine and Russia. In terms of per head consumption, the Czechs still hold first place with 159 l, ahead of the Irish (133 l), Germans (116 l), Austrians (111 l), Britons (96 l), Estonians (94 l), Belgians and Lithuanians (both 91 l), Finns (88 l) and Danes (87 l).

Photo: Professor Dr. Werner Back, award winner at the Ceremony of the BRAU Beviale 2007