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The historical and medieval city of Nuremberg, famous for its stunning imperial castle and its walled Old Town, hosted BrauBeviale 2024 from 26 -28 November. This event, organised by Yontex, attracted more than 850 exhibitors and 30,000+ visitors eager to experience the latest in beverage innovation.

From ingredients, technology and packaging to marketing, services and POS, BrauBeviale showcased a wide array of solutions designed for the beverage industry. FoodBev Media's Jesús Luna-López explores how the latest innovations are evolving with the sector.

Diversification is key

Destilla presented its nostalgic flavours range from the past decade but with a ‘modern twist’. The company’s PR manager, Inka Moewes, said: “Our solutions range will inspire manufacturers to diversify their portfolios with our finest natural ingredients, whether a functional beer with added vitamins, a cola drink, or our alcohol-free absinthe”.

Consumers are demanding healthier and cleaner beverages, and as a result, portfolios catering to the low/non-alcohol category have increased. However, using the right ingredient to achieve zero alcohol percentage is key.

This year at Brau, IFF presented its new Diazyme Nolo enzyme solution, which works by converting fermentable maltose into non-fermentable isomalto-oligosaccharides (IMOs), offering manufacturers an effective solution for producing beverages with a full-bodied mouthfeel and enhanced flavour profiles, delivering the experience of full-strength beers. “Trying to differentiate in the industry according to local markets is key”, said Karine Dedman, global product marketing manager.  “IFF aims to improve processes, making them more efficient, sustainable and beyond”.

Water quality

Innovation is at the hart of Xylem, which showcased its latest range of UV disinfection systems. The Wedeco Spektron UV offers a wide range of applications, from public water supply to industrial use. The latest DIN-certified additions to the series are designed for small municipalities facing space constraints during treatment process upgrades.

The company also showcased Diox-A Chlorine Dioxide Generator, which offers extensive communication capabilities, and its compact design allows for easy installation. James Leigh, head of business development for Europe at Xylem, explained: “The generator is ideal for food and beverage manufacturing such as process water and food washing. It is highly effective against biofilm formation as well as viruses, bacteria, protozoa and cysts, including Legionella.”

Efficient and sustainable manufacturing

German vision inspection leader Heuft showcased one of the most powerful solutions on the market for checking the quality of empty beverage cans. The compact Heuft CanLine II, with its intelligent top-down inspection, identifies cans in the production line that have oval deformations and indentations on the flange edge, as well as dents and contamination on the inner sidewall. Additionally, foreign objects on the can base may also be detected with a single camera. Its resolution has been quadrupled for the technologys latest iteration. The newly integrated HDR technology also optimises the illumination of all these areas, so that complete inspection has become even more reliable at a performance level of up to 144,000 empty cans per hour.

At this year’s event, Heuft also presented – for the first time to the public – a new type of technology for intelligent Optical Character Verification (OCV), which can now be connected to Heuft CanLine II empty can inspectors, which helps to maintain output and avoid unwanted line stoppages. The best-before date (BBD), for example, which is applied to the outside of the base of each individual empty can using an inkjet, is reliably detected and verified by another intelligent bottom-up camera, developed and manufactured in-house. Thanks to self-programmed deep learning AI, this is even possible when the typeface is not optimal.

Each individual character applied by an inkjet consists of a collection of individual ink dots that combine to form numbers or letters. Depending on the configuration and operating status of the inkjet system, creeping display problems can occur whereby individual dots slip and no longer land exactly where they are supposed to. Letters and lines of text can distort, blur and smear, and the entire typeface becomes less precise and increasingly difficult to read. Text recognition with the naked eye is already difficult – and practically impossible during low container transport speeds. However, the Heuft Reflexx AI camera, which utilises intelligent image processing and deep learning, makes it possible to reliably detect codes of decreasing quality during the transport of containers at speeds of up to 72,000 empty cans per hour.

Enhanced compressors

At this year’s event, FoodBev had the opportunity to catch up with global compressor supplier AF Compressors. Pascal Hayden, sales and marketing manager, pointed out: “80% of the total cost of operating a PET manufacturing plant is in energy consumption. Energy costs are increasing worldwide and neglecting its importance could result in higher operating expenses in the future. AF compressors offer low energy consumption and will provide your facility with direct energy savings.” Their solutions offer a simplistic but robust design, are oil free, slow speed, require fewer parts and result in less wear than other traditional compressors, enabling a long-lasting and reliable technology.

Alcohol-free innovation

Krones presented its technology for alcohol-free beers, the new variant of its Poseidon technology with integrated aeration and oxygen sensors.

The Steinecker’s Poseidon recirculation unit offers various circulation zones and flows that can be established within the tank. This aims to deliver an efficient fermentation process that, in turn, is the key to producing high-quality beer.

To use its Poseidon recirculation unit with crabtree-negative yeasts, Steinecker developed a variant featuring an integrated aeration system and oxygen sensor. Recirculation keeps the yeast in a more homogeneous suspension in the beer, which in turn improves flavour development and speeds maturation. Equally important is its use for aerating the tank: during the maturation process, Poseidon recirculates the wort continuously and maintains a consistent oxygen content of between 1.0 and 1.5 parts per million (ppm).

To develop the desired aroma profile, it is important that a high temperature be maintained for as long as possible – all the while in an aerobic environment. In trials conducted in the Steinecker Technology Centre in collaboration with Novenesis, a producer of crabtree-negative NEER yeasts, these conditions could be maintained for well over 20 hours using Poseidon. In the end, these tests produced fully flavoured beer containing 0% alcohol in just two days’ time. Different mixing zones and circulation directions can be set in the tank.

The latest in laser scanning

KHS Services now includes a new generation of mobile laser scanners and technically optimised VR goggles. “With this, we enable beverage producers to enjoy a holistic, detailed 3D experience within a very short time indeed, thus simplifying project planning and greatly improving planning security,” says Patrick Bürger, head of plant design at KHS.

What’s known as laser scanning enables all interfering contours in the production shop to be precisely surveyed and recorded. To this end, the scanner logs all possible obstacles in minute detail. “If all the customer has are 2D drawings that are 20 to 30 years old and often incomplete, this can lead to a few unpleasant surprises,” Bürger said. “During the order phase – or, in the worst case, at the last minute during commissioning – ventilation systems, columns or other obstructions may suddenly appear that hamper the ingress of our lines and machines.” In using state-of-the-art 3D laser scanners, KHS works to directly eliminate this source of error at the initial planning stage.

Up until very recently, KHS used stationary laser scanners in the 3D line design process that were mounted on a tripod. To record the space available in the entire hall, the scanners had to be moved to a different place and readjusted after each separate image had been taken. The new generation of laser scanners considerably simplifies and speeds up this process, equipped for intuitive operation.

Bürger enthused: “You simply hold the scanner in your hand, like a smartphone with a camera and video function. As you move around the hall, the scanner takes 270° images of your surroundings. On site, we now only need about 20% of the time we used to for image capture plus post-processing. The result is a scatterplot that gives the exact data for the room.”

Efficient design review through VR technology

VR goggles have undergone significant further development. While to date, a relatively elaborate external tracking system with two or four calibratable support stands has been used, KHS now works with tracking incorporated into the goggles. “We only need the goggles, two joysticks and a laptop to display the data. This means that the setup is much simpler and available much more quickly,” Bürger continued.

This synergy of mobile laser scanners and VR goggles with integrated tracking is new to the industry, Bürger claimed. “To date, we’re one of the few companies on the market to directly combine the scan with 3D planning and incorporate this into customer presentations right from the start.”

This service has already been put to successful use for several clients in German-speaking parts of the world. “By the end of the year, we’re aiming on implementing this worldwide, so that beverage producers can profit from the benefits in real time at all of our international sites,” Bürger concluded.

World Beverage Innovation Awards

The winners of this year's World Beverage Innovation awards were announced at BrauBeviale. Dan Bunt, marketing director of FoodBev Media, presented the awards ceremony at the Forum stage.

Dan commented: "This year's showcase of innovation has revolutionised our perception of beverages. The judges and I were truly impressed by the cutting-edge technology, creative use of ingredients, and the strong focus on ethical practices and sustainability." Click here for full details on finalists and winners.

BrauBeviale highlighted the need for companies to embrace new technologies such as AI, alternative energy solutions and compact lines.  Furthermore, the demand for healthier, natural and innovative flavours without compromising on quality is prompting  companies to diversify their traditional portfolios, dynamising the industry in general.

A special thanks to O-I, Ardagh, Bericap, Sidel, Ferrum, Blupura, Frigoglass and many more, who welcomed us to discuss their technologies and solutions. Keep an eye out for upcoming features of FoodBev containing contributions from some of these compainies throughout 2025, particularly towards Drinktec in Munich later this year.