*With more than 60% of stand space already sold, organisers say Avex 2009 (10-11 June 09), the international vending and water exhibition, is set to be a successful show. * Avex 2009 is organised by the Automatic Vending Association (AVA) in partnership with the European Point-of-use Drinking Water Association (EPDWA). The show will be held at Birmingham’s NEC in the UK, and an evening party is planned for 10 June at the Hilton Metropole. The UK is the largest single market for vending in Europe, and Avex is popular for overseas companies wanting to sell in the UK or visitors wanting to see the best that vending has to offer. Avex brings quality buyers from all key sectors – 2007 attracted 7,455 visitors and over 71% were manager level and above.

Pur Water Filtration has launched a new 'Voice of water' TV campaign in the US. Owned by Procter & Gamble, the brand is taking on the bottled water segment with a $45m campaign. The campaign will feature US TV actor Zach Braff – star of Scrubs – as the voice of water. "I'm water. I shouldn't be trapped in a bottle. I've got things to do. Trees to grow. Thirsts to quench ... " Braff says in the first TV spot. Supporting print ads, which debut in November magazines, read: 'I don't need a cap and a label. I look better naked'. "The bottled water backlash is hitting fever pitch," said Eric Yaverbaum, co-founder of Tappening.com, which promotes tap water. "We've had water filters for years and no one cared. But, no one was talking about whether or not bottled or tap water was safe. This is a great opportunity for them." Pur filters are No.2 in the category. Sales grew 9.7% to $22m for year ending 7 September 2008. Fellow filter company Brita was up 8.1% to $61.4m.

In response to a new bill affecting lead content of residential and commercial faucets in California, Chicago Faucets has introduced Ecast – a line of durable brass faucets and fixtures for installation in food service areas, classrooms and other areas where students may drink water. Ongoing efforts by state legislators to provide the safest drinking water possible to the residents, and especially to the children of California, has resulted in the creation of California Assembly Bill 1953 (AB1953). Due to take effect on a January 2010, the new bill requires that residential and commercial faucets for dispensing water for human consumption must not exceed a total weighted average of 0.25% maximum lead content. Facilities particularly impacted by this new law include: schools, day-care centres, hospitals, healthcare facilities, restaurants and cafeterias. "This new line of faucets has already received certification," said Andreas Nowak, CEO of Chicago Faucets. "We're very excited to be able to offer it to the schools and other facilities throughout the state of California ahead of schedule." Ecast will be available at the start of October 2008, enabling Californians to meet this regulation 14 months before the law takes effect. "Our opinion was, why make the children and residents of California wait, when we have the ability to provide faucets that meet this new law today," added Nowak.

By Jason Holway Zenith International *More than 250 suppliers and brand owners met in Atlanta, Georgia, at the end of September for the Aseptipak conference organised by Schotland Business Research – the programme investigating the theme 'Aseptic as an Enabler of Sustainability'. * Currently, the majority of ‘aseptic’ products in the US market are produced using hot-fill technology, but there were signs that beverage producers in particular may well be ready to embrace cold-fill technology, with the impression given that future CAPEX will favour the latter format. Nowhere was this trend better illustrated than in an Audience Response session after lunch on the first day. All 250 or so delegates contributed to a real-time market research exercise in which 43 questions were posed under a variety of headings: investment, sterilisation, sustainability, flexible packaging, closures, performance and consumer attitudes. With a significant number of the delegates also key decision makers within their organisations, some weight can be given to the responses even if statisticians might challenge the science! Schotland has pioneered the ARS technique in packaging and food and beverage related conferences, being the first to use it when it was launched at Nova-Pack 2008 last February. The system has the virtue of capturing real yet anonymous feedback from a large number of respondents, encouraging an openness that might not always be a natural response when sharing the forum with direct competitors. Around three quarters of delegates revealed that they were planning aseptic packaging investments within the next three years, approaching half in 2009, with the current financial turmoil apparently having little impact – almost three quarters would continue to pursue those plans. However, half of the delegates hoped they wouldn't be paying any extra for dry aseptic against hot-fill costs. For around half the delegates, 600bpm line speed was sufficient, 80% would blow the bottles on-site, while nearly 60% would mitigate the investment (and learn more about a challenging technology) by using co-packing to begin with. Similar proportions – around two thirds in each case – recognised that consumers valued the recyclability and/or compostibility of packaging, and felt that aseptic packaging had a sufficiently well-established link to sustainability for such an emphasis to represent a marketing opportunity for brands. However, it was also acknowledged that ‘sustainability’ remained an imprecisely defined term that had a feel-good factor and a broad appeal. Interestingly, when asked about those influences on the consumer purchasing decision, sustainability was given as most important by only 1% of the audience. Cost and quality shared 85% out of a quartet of choices completed by healthiness, but led by cost (though nearly half of the delegates communicated in a follow-up question that ‘better product taste’ was the single biggest advantage conferred by aseptic packaging). Still beverages When it came to determining through which beverage sectors cold-fill aseptic would gather in importance, the emphasis was on added value still beverages – juices, RTD teas, sports and energy drinks. Recognising that such sectors might favour more innovative closure technology – and also the challenge of running sports caps down a cold aseptic line – delegates were asked whether they wanted to see LAAB (low acid aseptic beverages) with a sports cap and no foil seal. 70% said they did, with around two thirds expecting such offerings to represent between 5% and 10% of consumption across these still beverage sectors in the next half decade. Across these same categories, more than three quarters of respondents felt that aseptically filled product would represent between 10% and 25% of volume against hot-fill over the same time frame. Such developments would likely take place off the same finish sizes: 38mm and 28mm for multi-serve and single-serve respectively. Addressing the issues What issues will cold-fill aseptic technology suppliers have to address to turn this potential into reality? Unsurprisingly the chief obstacle identified was high capital investment (64%), another 15% highlighting the fact that installed capacity is expected to carry on operating for some time to come. Around 20% recognised that technical support and operator training represented a real challenge and, from speaking to those producers that have hard-learnt experience, the learning curve is steep. Sharing that experience is something these pioneers are more than willing to do, but it can be condensed only so much. Self-learning is both unavoidable and invaluable. A number of those companies currently offering cold-fill aseptic solutions – Krones, Sidel, KHS, GEA Procomac, Scholle and Advanced Electron Beams – both presented and sponsored the event, while Nestlé, Gehl Foods, Sara Lee and Corvaglia were well represented on the platform and in the audience. Interest now switches to Fort Lauderdale in Florida for the 2009 Nova-Pack event in early February 2009, which will look at latest developments in PET containers for food and beverages.

This award-winning concept from Unistraw will enable consumers to sip a probiotic daily dose with any of their favourite beverages. “We're looking forward to launching the Howaru Probiotic Straws to provide our beverage and milk customers with a new solution, addressing customers' demands on gut health and improvement of natural defences”, said Fabienne Saadane-Oaks, President, Danisco BioActives. “The Howaru Straws are proving to be a convenient dry format, ideal for ensuring the delivery of a highly stable dose of probiotic live bacteria, without requiring chilled storage or distribution.” Danisco offers one of the most extensive ranges of probiotic bacteria under the registered trademark Howaru. Backed by numerous clinical studies, Howaru probiotics have shown beneficial effects in the areas of gastrointestinal health, well-being, immune system modulation and improvement of natural defences. More recent scientific evidence has demonstrated the ability of Howaru probiotics to maintain respiratory health in children with Howaru Protect, or restore a well-balanced gut microflora after antibiotic treatment with Howaru Restore. Unistraw and Tetra Pak Unistraw recently joined forces with the leading packaging manufacturer Tetra Pak to introduce the new on-pack probiotic straw on its aseptic packages. “Unistraw is delighted to partner with two global companies in Danisco and Tetra Pak”, said Tim York, MD of Unistraw. “These two partnerships allow us to ideally complement our range with new, well-documented health functionalities and open up new channels to market via Danisco’s global sales force and Tetra Pak technical collaboration.” Danisco and Unistraw expect the first Howaru straws to be launched by mid 2009. Prototypes will be demonstrated at Danisco’s stand at Supply Side West in Las Vegas (22-24 October) and at Health Ingredients Europe in Paris (4-6 November). Source: Danisco

**Novel dairy foods, functional foods, sustainability and process improvements are some of the exciting areas that could be explored by the recipient of the 2009 Innovation in Dairy Manufacturing Award. **This inaugural Dairy Australia Award offers an innovation grant of $20,000 and an award certificate. People currently working in the dairy food manufacturing sector or in industry related manufacturing, research or innovation are encouraged to apply. Dairy Australia Programme Manager – Dairy Product Innovation – Dr Mani Iyer said the award offered an opportunity to bring innovation to dairy manufacturing in domestic and overseas markets. “This might provide the Australian dairy industry with a chance to learn from what others are doing overseas,” he said. “Applications could include any aspect of dairy manufacturing, from process or quality improvement to new product development.” The grant may be used to initiate or progress manufacturing research, or to travel overseas to study a specific product or process that presents an opportunity for progressing innovation in the Australian dairy industry. Recipients of the award are expected to share outcomes and learnings with the wider industry on completion of the project. “The award supports and encourages new ideas for industry innovation and broadens the skills of the recipient, while also benefiting the entire dairy industry through sharing information on innovation,” Dr Iyer said. “Dairy Australia is investing in the skills of tomorrow’s food innovators to make a better future for dairy.” Full details on the 2009 Innovation in Dairy Manufacturing Award can be found on the Dairy Australia website: www.dairyaustralia.com.au

**Britain’s most efficient and environmentally advanced fresh milk dairy has been formally opened by Lord Rooker, Minister for Sustainable Food and Farming. **The Robert Wiseman Dairies facility in Bridgwater, Somerset, will process and pack almost 10% of the nation’s requirement for fresh milk, and is designed to set new standards in minimising the use of energy, water, plastics and food miles. With an ultimate capacity of 500 million litres per annum, the Company has invested £80m to take the dairy to its first phase capacity of 250 million litres per annum. At the opening, Robert Wiseman, Chief Executive of Robert Wiseman Dairies, announced that the Company has started preparatory work to lift capacity to 350 million litres per annum, less than nine months after the dairy processed milk for the first time. “Bridgwater is the largest single investment in the British dairy industry to date, and we believe it represents a step change because of the focus placed on use of energy, water, materials and waste,” said Wiseman. “It's located in the heart of one of Britain’s largest milk producing areas, which keeps farm tanker miles to a minimum. It has its own on-site water treatment plant, allowing us to treat and recycle waste water back to bathing water standard so that it can be used again for vehicle washing and to irrigate the local cricket pitch, which sits adjacent to the site. The dairy also incorporates a zero-waste-to-landfill policy, and will be a focal point for the work we're doing to reduce the amount of plastic used in our packaging.” Opening the plant, Minister for Sustainable Food and Farming Lord Rooker, said the new dairy plant demonstrated, “the dairy industry's willingness and ability to reduce its environmental impact in the face of climate change, which was at the heart of the Dairy Road Map that was launched earlier this year. “I very much hope that others in the industry will be able to follow Robert Wiseman's lead."

Kamal Mukherjee, founder of DrinkUpNY.com, has successfully combined his passion for technology and beverages into a business that's experienced more than 500% growth since 2006. He attributes this remarkable success to excellent customer service, ethical business practice and innovative ideas. “I've been a computer geek for most of my adult life,” Mukherjee says. I moved here from Calcutta, India, 10 years ago for a job in IT, pretty much right before the meltdown in 2000.” At a time when everyone around him were facing layoffs, Kamal scraped together $1,000 and started a software consulting practice from the kitchen table of his modest apartment in New Jersey. In his free time, he would hang out with friends at a local store. “One day the light just kind of came on,” he says. “The idea of owning a store and filling up the shelves with world-class wine and spirits seemed more than appealing, so I bought a store in Brooklyn. Six years later, we launched DrinkUpNY.com." The international online retailer carries a well-rounded portfolio of spirits and wines, including more than 1,000 different items, at every price point and of the rarest varieties. It also carries nine varieties of the recently legalised beverage, absinthe. In fact, DrinkUpNY was one of the first retailers in the US to carry this particular beverage last year. Today, the online vendor leads the revival with one of the largest retail selections of absinthe. What's been your greatest challenge since you opened the liquor store(s), Kamal? “As with most start-ups, keeping funds flowing is sometimes a challenge, but it’s also an opportunity to get creative. The regulations of the alcohol industry create an added layer here. We keep our attorney on speed dial to ask him what we can and cannot do.” What vision do you see for DrinkUpNY? "We want DrinkUpNY.com to be the 'go-to place' for beverage lovers and connoisseurs. It's our goal to be the number one destination for hard-to-find products at reasonable prices." Have you had any moments when you wanted to turn back or throw in the towel? “Surprisingly, I’ve yet to experience that moment. I think it goes back to doing what inspires you.” Were there any moments that you knew you were going to succeed? What inspired this thinking? “The innate feeling that we were going to succeed happened right off the bat and has been fairly constant since. Our business model pushed the store to instant success. We feel very lucky.” As a small business owner in an alcohol-based industry, who do you call your best friend? “My staff. They make it happen. Second best friend? My attorney. Who else would take my calls at 3am?” What piece of advice would you offer to anyone thinking of starting a business, either brick and mortar or online? “Always do something you enjoy. Go after an idea that truly inspires you, but do the planning and homework before you start.”

*Alpenmilch, Austria’s fifth largest dairy company has launched a new website - www.milch.com. * The website presents a modern new image for the Salzburg dairy company. Visitors can find details of the company’s range of dairy products, together with nutrient details. A Gastro section includes recipes using many of the dairy company’s products. And there is an added bonus for visitors to the website – the chance to win a range of prizes.

*Three million visitors to the Tower of London can now enjoy the delights of Beechdean Dairies’ Farmhouse Dairy ice cream now that work to the Well Tower Kiosk has been completed and the unit is back in use. * The kiosk had been redundant for some time but after a complete facelift it is back in operation and Beechdean ice cream is now being sold to visitors from all over the world who enjoy this popular historic attraction in the heart of London. In addition the Jewel Kiosk within the grounds of the Tower also stocks Beechdean ice cream, made from Jersey milk and double cream from Beechdean’s own dairy herd.

French Health Minister, Roselyne Bachelot, has rejected calls for a higher tax on foods considered to be unhealthy. A French parliamentary report released on Tuesday outlined 70 proposals for tackling obesity, including a controversial “junk food tax” that would increase the tax applied to certain food products. It would result in high fat, high sugar and high salt foods commanding a VAT (Value Added Tax) of almost 20%, well above the current 5.5% level. Ms Bachelot cited concerns of the impact of such a tax on lower socio-economic groups and suggested that any health plan “should not go in that direction”. The other issue would be the implementation of such a scheme, as there can be a grey area with some foods as to their true nutritional benefit. For example, high fat doesn’t necessarily mean the food is unhealthy, as there are a number of healthy fats considered important in the human diet. Additionally, would a food with medium fat, sugar and salt levels avoid the tax while a product high in fat but low in sugar and salt be subject to the higher tax? The suggestion of lowering the VAT, from 5.5% to just over 2%, for fruit and vegetables was also mooted, with Ms Bachelot not ruling out the idea being considered at some stage in the future. * *

According to a CNN report, lawyers said they had not heard of any other civil lawsuit being filed in response to the melamine contamination. The parents of the sick infant, who is still being treated at Beijing Children's Hospital, is seeking 150,000 Yuan (£12,340 or $21,904) in compensation from the dairy company, and this amount could rise. Last month, Sanlu Group admitted that, during a self-check, it found that some of its baby milk powder products were contaminated by tripolycyanamide (melamine).