It was a beautiful spring day, and after our early morning drive from Bath we joined the Coca-Cola Enterprises site tour.
Wakefield is the largest soft drinks factory in Europe, producing more than 100m cases a year. It houses one of the fastest 2-litre production lines in the world, filling over 30,000 bottles an hour. Since the site was opened, more than £150m has been invested to ensure the Wakefield site has leading-edge technology, making it one of the most efficient and sustainable bottlers in the Coke system.
A number of European visitors to the UK event said afterwards that this tour was one of the highlights; a brief glimpse into the company’s efficiency and excellent teamwork. I was a little disappointed to not be shown the new ‘lights out’ production area, but then I suppose not all business information can be shared.
We returned to listen to the ‘Industry leadership’ panel give an informal review of latest market trends, industry changes, retailer pressures, consumer concerns, health and obesity, innovation and the environment.
Hosted by Richard Hall, chairman of Zenith International, we heard Sanjay Guha, director of marketing & Olympics for Coca-Cola North West Europe and Nordics, give out some positive messages.
“We’re the first to achieve 1bn sales with Coca-Cola Light,” he said. “We have momentum in energy and sports drinks and are pleased with the performance of Innocent and the Hansen’s integration.”
David Saint, MD of Gerber Juice Company, explained how 2010 had been a difficult year for many, with no sign of respite in 2011 (raw material costs are at an all-time high). William Watkins, MD of Radnor Hills Mineral Water Company, urged us to consider where the cost base is going: “We have £15m turnover and are extremely busy, but we have no control over input prices.”
Chris McCann, ethical sourcing country head – Walmart Global Procurement for Walmart/Asda – spoke on ‘What retailers are seeking’, and how the company expects demand for fuel to rise by 30% by 2025.
“As Denning said, ‘Survival isn’t mandatory’,” said McCann. “However, we aim for an ethically sound supply base. We’re not being prescriptive, we keep the metrics broad – it’s far more complex than just following the crowd. As New Scientist revealed recently, solar and wave power may not be as appropriate as first thought, and may even contribute to climate change. The demand for PET as a raw material for clothing may also take from that designated for bottles, so you need to keep a close watch on the materials you use.”
Simon Barnes, senior sustainability analyst for IGD, ended the day speaking on ‘What best practice can achieve’: “By building better relationships with customers and generating industry efficiencies, we can reduce food waste. We can carry out choice editing depending on where and how products are grown. We believe we will see big changes in refrigeration in retail, with many moving to carbon-based refrigerants. With today’s technically savvy consumer, your sustainability credentials are always under scrutiny.”
Richard Hall concluded the day, saying: “It looks as if we will be seeing more purposeful sizing in soft drinks, with less waste than before. And as Simon said, ‘rightweighting’ as much as ‘lightweighting’, with some big sustainability claims from the major retailers.”
At the evening’s cocktail reception and industry dinner, I was lucky enough to meet Catherine Wang Xue, who has access to a natural source water in China and is planning on launching a functional drink aimed at women.
The newly prosperous working woman in China apparently has a hankering for beauty products and innovation in food and drink. I was able to introduce Catherine to various ingredient and equipment manufacturers who were of course very interested in her project. It was fascinating to watch the first stages of such a project being set in motion. Networking at its very best.
Read part two of this blog here.
Claire Phoenix is managing editor of Beverage Innovation magazine. Subscribe here.
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