A number of top ranking executives gave testimonials, some of which are published below:
Volker Kronseder, chairman, Krones AG, and president of the advisory board of Drinktec 2009, Germany: “Drinktec gave the boost to the beverage industry that we had expected. It acted as a catalyst for innovations and spurred on the beverages manufacturers to invest in the future and in new technologies. The event more than did justice to its good reputation. People are no longer paralysed with shock – life is coming back into the sector. Our customers were all in a good mood and are ready to invest. What I was particularly pleased to see is that we had a lot of decision-makers at our stand. We took a number of orders, particular from customers from Africa, the Middle East, South America, China and Central Europe. Among those orders were larger turnkey solutions and also individual commissions from small and medium-sized companies.”
Richard Clemens, MD, VDMA Fachverband Nahrungsmittelmaschinen und Verpackungsmaschinen, Germany: “Our expectations of Drinktec 2009 were met. The event produced the impetus we had expected, even in these not exactly easy economic times. We’re pleased about the further rise in the international scope among the visitors: Drinktec more than did justice to its claim to be the leading international trade fair.”
Ruth Evans, chief executive, brewing, Food & Beverage Industry Suppliers Association (BFBI), Great Britain: “The economic downturn seems to have led to a drop in visitor numbers at Drinktec, but the quality of those who came to our stand was exactly what we would have wished.”
Guo Chaomin, GM, CNBLM, China: “Drinktec is a great event. We met a lot of suppliers and buyers from around the world during the past few days. The latest technologies showcased at this fair impressed us a lot.”
Dr Klaus Peter Stadler, director, Coca-Cola Europe, Germany: “Drinktec is the world’s leading trade fair for technical equipment in the beverage industry. This event is the best for getting a rapid overview of all the relevant manufacturers. For us, it’s about meeting manufacturers and suppliers, and networking. Our top people from Atlanta were also at Drinktec, as well as fillers or licensees from all over the world. The members of the Coca-Cola family travelled from as far afield as Africa, Latin America, China and Australia – in total 500 to 600 people.”
Herbert Eickmeier, senior marketing manager, Döhler GmbH, Germany: “The visitor delegations are not as large as they used to be, but the quality is right. The right visitors are there. We developed new and interesting products specially for Drinktec. And our stand design, featuring an Innovation Box and four theme islands, is also brand new and it went down very well with the visitors.”
Marcus Ley, marketing manager, Ecolab GmbH & Co OHG, Germany: “Because of the situation in the global economy, we came to this year’s Drinktec with mixed expectations. But we were positively surprised. We were able to welcome all the major manufacturers from the beverage and milk industry at our stand. What was noticeable was the high number of visitors from China, India, Japan and Latin America. Our customers come from all over the world to talk here about specific projects and business, and that’s what makes Drinktec so unique.”
Matthias Jablonski, manager marketing and communications Europe, Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd, Canada: “Husky is very pleased to have exhibited at Drinktec 2009. The show allowed us to demonstrate our commitment to beverage packaging by showcasing our latest innovations to the industry. Our booth was extremely busy with not only local visitors, but guests from all around the world. Having given us the opportunity to meet with existing beverage packaging customers, as well as build new relationships, this was a successful show for Husky.”
Roland Flach, CEO, KHS AG, Germany: “Interest in KHS as a supplier of integrated solutions was enormous – this we were able to see from the many visitors at the KHS stand who had travelled from all over the world. This underlined the KHS Drinktec motto of ‘Competence in Solutions’ in a very successful way. As well as full integrated systems and solutions competence, attention in talks with customers and new potentials focused on the groundbreaking innovations that KHS was presenting at Drinktec.”
Bill Taylor, group technical director, Lion Nathan Ltd, Australia: “At Drinktec, there’s always something new to see and experience, and this year was no exception.”
Jan-Willem de Munk, vice president food & beverage Europe, MeadWestvaco Packaging Systems, USA: “As a player in the brewing world, you just have to exhibit at Drinktec. There were fewer visitors here than four years ago, but that was to be expected in view of the economic crisis. All of the visitors were extremely competent professionals. The representatives of all the major breweries were here, and we were able to discuss our new developments.”
Menno M Holterman, chief growth officer, Norit, Netherlands: “We’re extremely satisfied and positively surprised about the high number of customers from Asia and South America. In general, we can say that there is more appetite for investment again, so long as the ROI is right. At Drinktec, we identified, with our customers, where there is potential for savings, and in this way, we were able to sign up a number of contracts. ‘Saving money and the environment’ – that just about sums up the business talks we held. We chose the camel as the symbol for water efficiency. In the west entrance, we put up a large poster that was received very well. Our main theme is using clean waste water and reusing it in the manufacturing processes.”
Hilda Chédel Quevedo, brand & marketing communications manager, O-I Europe, Switzerland: “What we find outstanding here is the broad spectrum of visitors and the international scope among them. Many come from as far as South America, South Africa and Australia. We achieved the goal we set ourselves in coming to this fair. As an American firm, our business in Europe is still relatively new and it was important to us to pave the way for contacts here and raise the profile of the company. In addition, we’re firmly convinced of the benefits that glass has as a natural packaging material.”
Pietro Cassani, GM, SACMI, Italy: “For SACMI, Drinktec is very important. We have presented several innovations, including the new modular labelling machine RFST. For all these new solutions, we recorded positive feedback from customers and we’re satisfied with the flow of international visitors, which indicates that the industry has started to recover.”
Roberto Schianchi, market operations executive vice president, Sidel Group, Italy: “Drinktec 2009 has been a positive edition for Sidel, because we met a huge number of customers represented by delegations whose level was the highest we’ve ever seen. At our booth, we had the opportunity to discuss with some of the most important CEOs, supply directors and purchase directors about the main future trends of our industry and to show them the results of our strong investments in R&D, focused on sustainability, flexibility and advanced services.”
Rüdiger Selig, marketing & communication F&B, Siemens AG, Germany: “We were very satisfied with Drinktec in terms of organisation and as regards talks with customers, equipment suppliers and systems integrators. Drinktec is important to us as a platform for presenting new developments and innovations, for example, more efficient process automation and energy/water management for a sustainable use of resources.”
Mongi Goundi, MD, Sinalco International GmbH & Co KG, Germany: “The way the fair went has put us in a very positive mood. We’re looking for licensees around the world, partners who have a production facility but no brand. We already signed up three deals at Drinktec and conducted a number of interesting talks which hold promise for the future.”
Caroline Sanders, marketing director ingredients EMEA, Tate & Lyle, France: “The fair lived up to our expectations. The quality of the contacts at our stand was very good. Also, the trade audience at the whole of Drinktec seemed to us to be of a very high, professional calibre. The visitors were very international, many people came from the Middle East, for example. What we really liked was the tremendous interest in innovations. As a result of that we had some very good talks, in particular about specific projects and business.”
Klaus Heitlinger, MD, Verband der Deutschen Fruchtsaftindustrie, Germany: “Drinktec is the highlight of the beverages fairs and a must for the sector. It’s extremely well organised and the visitors can find their way around easily. Also the whole team, under the leadership of Petra Westphal, has excellent contacts with all the participants. The VIP lounge is a good place for holding talks at short notice and as a place to have a break from the hectic of the fair.”
Heinrich Sievers, MD, Wild GmbH & Co KG, Germany: “Our impression was extremely positive, in particular as regards the quality of the visitors. We had some super talks, almost 100% of our strategic customers from all over the world were here. Drinktec is an extremely good platform, where we can show our customers that we are standing by them, especially when times are tougher. We were surprised by the openness for innovations and improved products. What people were looking for were more cost-effective products achieved through clever recipes but keeping the same good taste.”
Source: Drinktec
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