Ceepackaging

Analysis

Increasing demand for container filled drinks

The general international conditions are promising for the beverage technology suppliers at BRAU Beviale: In its medium projection variant, the United Nations assumes an increase in the world population from the present good 6.6 billion to
9.2 billion people in 2050. More and more inhabitants in conurbations and the rising standard of living in heavily populated countries promote the consumption of container-filled drinks. Moreover, experts see a trend towards liquid instead of solid food. Whereas rising beer consumption is almost restricted to countries with ground to make up, soft drinks including water are on the up worldwide. From 2000 to 2007, for example, the consumption of non-alcoholic drinks grew from 60 to an estimated
105 l per head in Central Eastern and Eastern Europe, and from 217 to 251 l in Western Europe. Sales of bottled water in Hungary led to especially dynamic growth of soft drinks consumption from 198 to 239 l. The Czech Republic with 258 l was already above the West European average of 251 l, which is achieved by Austria. They are followed by Slovenia with 206, the Slovak Republic with 191 and Poland with 175 l of soft drinks per head (Wild GmbH, D).

World packaging machinery market growing
The German food processing and packaging machinery association, the Fachverband Nahrungsmittel- und Verpackungsmaschinen im VDMA (Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau), expects 3 to 5 % more sales in 2008 due to expanding worldwide filling capacities and the backlog of orders at the end of 2007. The backbone of the good economic situation in the industry is still the successful trade in Europe. The production volume of food processing and packaging machinery rose to 10.6 billion EUR in 2007 (2006: 9.3). Machinery worth almost 73 % of this value was exported. Packaging machinery alone increased by 11 % to 5.1 billion EUR (2006: 4.6). The main buying countries here are the USA, ahead of Russia, Great Britain and France. VDMA estimates the world market for packaging machinery in 2007 at some 21.8 billion EUR (2006: 20.8). With a 22.8 % share of the world market (2006: 22), the German packaging machinery industry confirmed its leading position ahead of Italy with 16.5 % (2006: 16) and the USA with 11 % (2006: 12).

Production value of beverage machinery doubled
Apart from a small dip in 2005, the VDMA subsector of beverage machinery has also expanded strongly since the turn of the millennium. The production volume of the essentially some 100 companies and about 14,000 employees rose by a good
26 % last year to reach 2.32 billion EUR (2006: 1.84). This means the production value of beverage machinery has doubled since 2000 (2000: 1.02 billion EUR). Broken down into types of machinery, packaging machinery for beverages and beverage packages with a production volume of 1.681 billion EUR (2006: 1.427) accounts for almost three-quarters of industry sales. The production volume of beverage production machinery increased to 639 million EUR in 2007 (2006: 413). The production volume of the brewery machinery segment included in the above figure rose to 528 million EUR (2006: 323), especially due to new energy-saving brewhouse buildings in Germany.

Focus on technology leadership
The basis for the strong export position of the beverage machinery industry is its claim to technology leadership. The average innovation cycle in this segment is about four years and revolutionary innovations become fully developed in this time. All manufacturers also work continuously on detail improvements and process optimizations for their plants. For example, it is now also possible to combine the bottle blow-moulding machine and filling machine in aseptic filling plants so that air conveyors with their fault and contamination risks can be dispensed with. This requires less space and cuts investment and energy costs. In terms of cost-effectiveness, attention is on longer filling phases and shorter cleaning phases for these aseptic plants, coupled with the highest standards of microbiological safety. Every tenth of a gram less material used for a PET bottle brings enormous savings in material and thus costs over the year. Strong 0.5-l bottles can now be blown that weigh 9 or 10 grams – half as much as a standard letter. Bottle-to-bottle recycling for PET bottles has also been solved.

The beverage can is still popular, especially in Central Eastern and Eastern Europe. Information from the Beverage Can Makers Europe (BCME) association shows that the number of beverage cans sold in Europe in 2007 rose by a good 10 % to the record level of 50.2 billion cans. The growth rate in Central Eastern and Eastern Europe was twice as high at 20.5 %. According to BCME, Poland is currently the fourth largest European market for beverage cans after Great Britain, Spain and Russia. The reclosable can and a lid label of wafer-thin aluminium as hygiene protection and distinguishing feature set the technical trends here.

The British market research company Euromonitor expects worldwide growth of
2.7 % for beverage cans and 1.8 % for glass bottles by 2011. The clear winner among the beverage containers is still PET with an estimated annual growth of 5.6 % and an increase in the number of PET bottles used from a good 326 billion in 2007 to almost 406 billion in 2011. This means PET is closing the gap on glass bottles, which are to reach 414 billion in 2011, whereas 287 billion cans are forecast.

Theme pavilions at BRAU Beviale 2008
At the same time as the engineering challenges, the beverage machinery manufacturers are intensively tackling the issues of environment and sustainability. They are working on finding the best balance between ecological and economic demands. Ecological aspects like water, material and energy consumption are becoming increasingly important for the beverage producers, especially as they attract the attention of ecologically informed consumers. The followers of LOHAS – Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability – attach importance to health and sustainability. This is where the “Energy & Water” theme pavilion at BRAU Beviale (hall 7A) comes in, which is organized in cooperation with the Competence Pool Weihenstephan. The pavilion gives tips on the careful use of resources, which can save money. Other issues include renewable energy, efficient cogeneration or rational energy conversion. Smooth processes, optimized flows, networked customer, business and supplier contacts are provided by efficient data processing systems and software solutions. The “IT@Beverage Industry” theme pavilion and forum in hall 9, which is organized in cooperation with the Brewery Research and Training Institute (VLB) of Berlin, shows how these all function perfectly.