A blue section showcased new beverage products, including natural relaxation drink Just Chill. I also met with new beverage entrepreneur Richard Coldham of Stream Beverages – due to showcase for the first time at SIAL with Upstream, Slipstream (for slimmers), Energy Stream and Fairy Stream (for little girls).
The InterBev Live! stage showcased a number of speakers, the most popular being William McDonough, author of Cradle to Cradle, underlining how ‘waste’ is to be eliminated as a word in our vocabulary, with ‘material reutilisation’ the new order of the day. For instance, by the original Ford plant becoming a living ecosystem as a wetland instead of asphalt, this has saved $35m.
“We need to look for new ways forward,” he said. “We have to find a carrot big enough to use as a stick. I don’t work with politicians, as progress is just too slow. The job for commerce is to solve these problems ourselves, and as quickly as possible. Then the governments can follow.
“Already working with Wal-Mart, Nestlé, P&G … things are starting to move, and that’s without legislation. Just as you have to get a super tanker moving, we’re the little rudder on the big rudder.
“DSM has recently developed a method to repair the polymer chains in PET during recycling. While PP can now be recycling in to food grade material – that’s upcycling instead of the old-fashioned downcycling.”
The business day on centre stage ended with presentations for The Beverage Hall of Fame. Beverage industry leader John Brock said in his acceptance speech, “What we’re left with are three types of memories: of the people we’ve worked with, of the challenges we’ve faced and of industry success on a great scale. I want to congratulate all the people at CCE for what we’ve achieved.”
The ABA reception in the evening enabled me to meet up with top names in the industry, including HyDrive founder and beverage guru Mike Weinstein. Roll on today’s show and the InterBev Beverage Innovation Awards organised by FoodBev Media tonight. There’ll be so many ideas and initiatives to celebrate! Results will be online tomorrow!
See a gallery of images from InterBev 2010 here, or check out a bigger gallery of images on our Flickr page.
Claire Phoenix is managing editor of Beverage Innovation magazine. Subscribe here.
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