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What is the point of drinking?

When a good 1,400 exhibitors of beverage raw materials, technologies, logistics and marketing ideas meet 34,000 potential customers in Nürnberg from 12-14.11.2008, then naturally because BRAU Beviale is the industry’s most important international capital goods exhibition this year, and as such also reflects the trends on the international beverage markets.

European Beer Star Award 2008: Entries from all over the world
The best example is the European Beer Star Award, which will be presented for the fifth time in 2008. The star launched jointly by the Private Brauereien Bayern, the honorary sponsor of the exhibition, and the German and European federation shines more brightly than ever in 2008. 575 beers from all over the world, from the whole of Europe, but also from Australia, Brazil, El Salvador, Japan, Mongolia, Paraguay, Peru, Thailand or the USA entered for the coveted award in 2007. The European Beer Star pays tribute to genuine beers of real character and high quality; at the last award there were 40 categories such as pils, lager, wheat beer, bock, dubbel, dark beer, porter, stout, kölsch, ale, etc. The best in each category can look forward to receiving the gold, silver or bronze award at the presentation ceremony at BRAU Beviale.

World beer market is growing – Russia catching up
The world beer market grew by about 5 % in 2007 (Plato Logic, GB). China as the world’s biggest brewer holds a major share of this. The China Brewing Association forecasts that the present per head consumption of just under 30 l/year is to increase to 35 l/year by 2010 with beer sales of 450 million hl. Many foreign investors are also already active in the Chinese beer market. About 20 % of the brewing industry is in foreign hands, especially as part of joint ventures with Chinese breweries.

The world market leaders in the raw materials product segment are also present at BRAU Beviale 2008. This applies to malt and beer production and to the production of non-alcoholic drinks.
Stephan J. Barth, Managing Partner of Joh. Barth & Sohn GmbH & Co.: “It is naturally an advantage for us that BRAU Beviale takes place practically on our doorstep. But this alone is not the reason we are celebrating our 20th anniversary as exhibitor at BRAU Beviale this year. Joh. Barth & Sohn and the companies in the Barth-Haas Group are world market leaders in hop trading and hop processing. The hop trade lives from personal relationships and meetings – also and especially at times of the Internet. Precisely these meetings with our customers from Germany and abroad are our main reason for exhibiting at BRAU Beviale.”

The 2007 world ranking list of top brewery concerns is headed by SABMiller with sales of some 230 million hl, followed by Inbev (225 million hl), Heineken (160 million hl), Anheuser-Busch (150 million hl) and Carlsberg (125 million hl) (Plato Logic). While brewery concerns are growing, the opportunities for small and medium-sized breweries are also increasing in parallel. Innovative power is certainly helpful here – as in Japan, for example: A private brewery on the island of Hokkaido is brewing a beer based on milk. The idea originated from the large milk surplus. The drink, which contains one third milk, is said to taste fruity and is therefore – according to the brewery – especially popular among women.

The beer mix drinks in Germany rose by more than 18 % to 4.2 million hl in 2007, which equates to 4 % of total beer sales. This proves Horx’s theory of drinks as lifestyle. The mixes are becoming more and more creative, for example, like a new wheat beer and elderberry mix, or Berlin wheat beer with a twist of blackcurrant. Overall German beer sales dropped by just under 3 % to 104 million hl in 2007 (Federal Statistics Office, D). This enabled Russia to overtake Germany in the ranking of beer producing nations for the first time, so that Russia now occupies third place after China and the USA. Russia can look back on an extremely good year for beer in 2007. Beer production rose by an impressive 16 % to 120 million hl.

New beverage additives for added active health
The suppliers of raw materials and essences for the production of non-alcoholic drinks – the world market leaders in this segment are also present at BRAU Beviale – take the consumers’ wishes for active health in every phase of life very seriously. New, for example, are “measurable health” concepts based on long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. These are said to reduce blood fat values and hence cholesterol level and blood pressure, keep the blood fluid, stabilize the heart rhythm and have an antiphlogistic effect. Whether smoothie, fruit juice drink or yoghurt drink – they can all be enriched with omega-3 fatty acids. Everyone is also currently talking about the “superfruits” incorporated in innovative drink concepts. Superfruits possess high antioxidative properties and contain a large spectrum of healthy ingredients such as fibres, manganese and anthocyanins in raspberries, fibres, beta-carotene, vitamins B, B1 and B2 in goji berries or wolfberries, and polyphenols and unsaturated fatty acids in açai berries. Açai, “miracle berries” from the Amazon rainforest, are currently on the road to success as ingredients for drinks in Brazil and the USA – and are making huge strides towards Europe.

Active health in every phase of life – the Asian market seems to be devoting itself to this theme especially successfully. For example, a vinegar drink with hyaluronic acid has been recently launched on the market in Japan. Hyaluronic acid is normally used in cosmetic products to maintain the skin’s moisturizing and resilience properties. A tea drink with folic acid has been developed specifically for pregnant women. A new Japanese iced tea is enriched with jasmine flavour and astaxanthin. The nutrient, which is present in algae and seafood, is regarded as a real fountain of youth that keeps the arteries clear and the skin firm and soft.

Beverage markets growing rapidly in Central Eastern and Eastern Europe
The growth in the developed markets is currently driven mainly by innovative drink segments that offer an “all-round feel-good package”. In the emerging markets of Central Eastern and Eastern Europe, drinks are initially still mainly regarded from the aspect of quenching thirst. In view of the rapid growth and the fast adaptation of drinking habits, this could soon change. For example, whereas the per head consumption of carbonated soft drinks in Central Eastern and Eastern Europe was just 27 l in 2000, the figure for 2007 was already more than 43 l (Wild, D). In the same period of time, the West Europeans only managed a rise of a good litre to 74 l. Assuming similar growth rates, the same level for East and West would be achieved in this segment in about seven years. In terms of per head consumption of non-alcoholic drinks, Germany is very clearly Europe’s leader with about 336 l. Apart from bottled water, the growth here in the past years has been particularly due to the new segments, which currently account for an approx. 16 % share of non-alcoholic drinks.

Central Eastern and Eastern Europe have a lot of ground to make up when it comes to bottled water. Whereas the average West European drank about 114 l in 2007 (2000: 91 l), the figure further east was only some 35 l (2000: 19 l). Nevertheless, the growth rates in this segment in Eastern Europe are also many times higher than in the West. The Hungarians have a real thirst for water and drank almost 110 l/head in 2007. Iced tea with almost 11 l is also very popular here just as in Western Europe. For comparison: The average amount of iced tea consumed in Central Eastern and Eastern Europe in 2007 was not even 2 l. This segment still doesn’t exist in the statistics in Russia, Belarus, Estonia, Bulgaria, the Ukraine, Poland, Latvia and Lithuania.

It remains to be seen whether so-called luxury waters also become popular with growing consumption of mineral water in the growth markets. Luxury waters, which are far more lifestyle than thirst quenchers, are adopting completely new approaches, for example, in terms of packaging. They are bottled in fine designer containers that remind one of perfume flacons or glass balls. But “inner values” such as extremely high oxygen content also count here.