The highlight was the Beverage Innovation Functional Drinks Awards which underline current trends in ingredients and packaging.
The event itself has been full of impressive presentations, impassioned entrepreneurs and environmentally aware companies, and was supported by sponsors Aptar, Beneo, Bericap, CSI, ColorMatrix and Tate & Lyle.
Rather than give you the full speaker programme, here are some of the best quotes from a host of speakers over the past few days.
Pierluigi Tosato, CEO of Acqua Minerale San Benedetto, said how what is most important is the future well-being of our children and ‘perceived added value’.
Designing the sincroblock internally has enabled the company to lightweight the bottle neck by 1.7g for 1.5-litre containers, and by 1.79g for 2-litre bottles, and they have produced a super compact 1-litre bottle ensuring 70% growth in 2011, giving the company 51% of market share in Italy. For children, the company’s 25cl Teine-free Tea and a baby drink with chamomile have enlivened this sector.
Albert Gratz, GM of Eckes-Granini spoke on its route to expansion through partnership. “In some markets, we have to decide whether to battle with the giants or stay out,” he said. “We’re looking for strength in local sourcing outside Europe and a flexible and transparent partnership.”
Ross Colbert of Rabobank told us to prepare for further shocks in beverage pricing volatility, with corn, sugar and coffee prices undergoing recent hikes by as much as 42%, oil increasing by 150% and aluminium by 25% since January 2010.
“The Asia Tigers – Suntory, Asahi and Kirin – are investing in soft drinks and we’re seeing regulators being held to account in the US,” said Colbert. “India will lead in future growth, with China close behind and Russia also a significant player. Those involved in airveyors, fillers and carbonates coolers are in a good position.”
The drink Pulpy Super Milky – a convergence of juice and dairy by Minute Maid – has been built in a very short time and is travelling west from the east, while ‘strategic sourcing’ is going to be the no 1 topic for the future, he predicts.
Javier Munoz spoke of CSI’s aim of being able to minimise costs of operations for its clients with weight reduction in closures such as the Asepti-Lok V38 3S offering a total line saving of $370,408 in South America, with added downtime savings of $78,000.
Todd Caron of the Aptar Group spoke of the company’s involvement in the fantastic success of Britvic’s foaming carbonate Turbo Tango via its closure last summer, with expansion plans in the offing. He also talked about a new no-spill dispenser for multiple-serve products: “If I had the money for all the spilled product in our house with five kids, I’d take a nice vacation.”
And we were treated to the first view of the carafe dispenser for Tropicana with no-spill lid: “True innovation happens behind closed doors,” he grinned.
Jens Bohm of Beneo Group spoke on Palatinose as “the modern energy management system” being a low-GI product from sugar beet that provides a prolonged energy effect in “next-generation sugar”.
Nadia Chauhan, the 25-year-old joint MD of India’s Parle Agro, spoke of the rapid growth of India’s middle class, with 714 million registered voters in the country.
“Many drinks are unpackaged, such as the popular natural lemon drink nimbu paani, at just two rupees, but the new Indian middle class is looking for sophisticated packaged beverages and just a 1% increase in this market means 22m more consumers.
“Because of India’s vast geography, we have moved to 47 smaller factories from four, and completely changed our business model. We plan to have 65 plants across the country by the end of 2012. This is our time – we’ve got to take our chances while we can.”
Richard Herbert spoke of similar growth in China, with families uptrading and a new focus on quality. Apparently, 20% of families shopped online in 2011, seven million more than in 2009. There is now a big opportunity in the second tier cities and internet walls in metro stations in Korea and China. There’s a quicker pace of change in developing countries and an increasing number of smaller households in China who want less waste and more sizes in beverage formats.
Jorge Lopez Dóriga of Latin America’s Ajegroup spoke of the company’s audacity in entering Asian markets: “People cannot resist the emotional link,” he explained. “We went into India not with volleyball or cricket links as you might expect, but with football. It’s the new thing there and we timed it just right, focusing on top global teams such as Barcelona and Manchester United.
Claire Phoenix is managing editor of Beverage Innovation magazine.
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