Here, Zack Smith, president beverages MWV, and his team outlined the quantum leap the company has made in computer-aided design for pack and process, that can speed a product’s time to market to just under six months in some cases. This is an excellent result of MWV’s joint venture with Dessalt Systems and part of MWV’s goal to offer a complete design and engineering solutions service for bottlers everywhere.
I nipped back to the attractive FoodBev Media stand to replenish my stock of magazines and pick up our Beverage Innovation Awards Showcase before popping in to the Beneo stand to say hello to Stefanie de Roover and try some of Beneo’s refreshing and tasty breakfast beverages based on rice milk.
Once replete, I had the energy to run down to Hall B3 to meet up with Christine Grob of Netstal, which has a wealth of innovations for PET, including the new PET-Line 4000 and 2400. Developed in collaboration with Otto Hofstetter of Switzerland and Italian-based Piovan, the PET-Line 2400 is suitable for the manufacture of 0.5-litre lightweight preforms with a cycle time of just 5.4 seconds using a 72-cavity mould.
According to Netstal, the thrust of the PET-Lines is their energy efficiency and ability to reduce materials use and keep costs down.
Energy savings were the focus of a new exhibitor, Krannich Solar, which specialises in solar energy panels tailored to company requirements. Dietmar Neff demonstrated to me how companies would be in a break-even position after three years, with the full costs of installation achieved well within 10 years of investment – something to take a serious look at as grid prices rise.
Hot innovations for packaging that particularly took my eye were Resilux’ AiroPack, air-driven ‘aerosol’ pack ideal for creams and gels, and Till’s incredible digital decorating system for printing directly onto 3D packaging, whatever its shape.
The definition was so beautiful that Coca-Cola was sending contacts to the Till stand armed with a digital photo of themselves that was reproduced immediately onto their own personalised PET Coke bottle to beautiful effect.
The day culminated in an evening of beer tasting at this year’s European Beer Star Awards for private breweries.
Back to the show now in quest of further innovations, and looking forward to this evening’s Beverage Innovation Awards taking place in the Drinktec Forum in Hall A2 at 5.30pm. Very exciting! Do come along and celebrate with the FoodBev Team.
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