BrauBeviale 2018: International beverage industry meets in Nuremberg

From 13 to 15 November, the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg will be focusing on all things beverage manufacturing. Following the scheduled year off, 1,095 exhibitors will show their new products at the world’s most important capital goods exhibition for the beverage industry this year. The expected 38,000 trade visitors will find out about raw materials, technology, components, packaging, and marketing. Key topic: the future viability of the beverage industry.

BrauBeviale has become even more international: 582 exhibitors – an increase of 53 percent (2016: 48 percent) – will arrive from 46 countries, primarily Italy, the Czech Republic, China, the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, and the United States. The 513 companies from Germany won’t have far to travel. Ten German start-ups will also be showing their product ideas to people from the industry for the first time at the subsidised pavilions stands for young, innovative companies in Halls 1 and 6.

BrauBeviale 2016 was completely sold out, so Hall 8 has been added to this year’s mix, bringing the total to nine halls. Visitor flow has been restructured as a result. “We have now grouped the exhibitors around the exhibition centre park in a way that reflects their position in the beverage production process chain,” explains Andrea Kalrait, Director Exhibition. “That will keep BrauBeviale just as compact and manageable as people have always found it to be.”Exhibitors expect trade visitors from technical and business management in the beverage industry – meaning they will come from breweries, malting plants, companies that produce or bottle water, soft drinks, juices, and spirits, wine and sparkling wine cellars, and dairies, as well as marketing, the trade, and catering. They travelled to the last exhibition in 2016 from 127 countries: in addition to Germany, primarily Italy, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.

Future viability of the beverage industry

The beverage industry faces major challenges, which will affect small and medium sized companies as well as global players. Among the buzzwords are automation, digitalisation, changing consumer behaviour, and corporate management. BrauBeviale, the central platform for the industry, is of course addressing these questions: how should beverage manufacturers lay the groundwork to ensure they will still be able to operate successfully on the market in the future? BrauBeviale’s new magazine WissensDurst offers skilled support and entrepreneurial inspiration. It aims to encourage, fascinate, and support readers using unusual examples.

Supporting programme: stimulate and inspire

Inspiration is also a key word for BrauBeviale’s comprehensive supporting programme. There will be three continuing educational events at the exhibition venue the day before the exhibition starts: the Export Forum German Beverages offers support for all issues related to export as a strategic business area for German beverage manufacturers. This is the sixth time the European MicroBrew Symposium, intended for international craft brewers and brewpub operators, will be held by VLB (Versuchs- und Lehranstalt für Brauerei), the Berlin-based teaching and training institute for brewing. The Heirloom & Terroir Barley and Malt Symposium by RMI Analytics promises to cover historic malting barley, and will also include the Heirloom Brewing Award.

The BrauBeviale Forum in Hall 1 offers the proven mix of talks, presentations, podium discussions, and award ceremonies for those who want to listen in as well as those who prefer to participate in discussions. Topics range from marketing and communication to technical issues related to beverage manufacturing, containers, and logistics, all the way to beverage innovations and the subject of recruiting. Prize-giving ceremonies such as the “Hop-Champion” and World Beverage Innovation Awards round out the programme. The Forum also includes the opening ceremony on the first day of the exhibition with a keynote speech by the food trend researcher Hanni Rützler and awarding of the Bavarian Beer Award. Also on the first day, attendees are welcome to watch the live finals of the German beer sommelier championship at 16:00.

The European Beer Star is traditionally awarded at BrauBeviale. It is one of the most important beer competitions in the world, and participation has surpassed previous records, with 2,344 beers from 51 countries on every continent vying for this year’s prize. It was created by the association Private Brauereien, the honorary sponsor of the exhibition, as well as the German and European umbrella associations. Visitors to the exhibition also have a voice: in the NCC Mitte entrance area, on the first day of the exhibition they are invited to choose their favourite beer from among the gold medal winners, to be designated the Consumers‘ Favourite 2018 in Gold, Silver, and Bronze.

A highlight for those seeking the variety and enjoyment of specialty beverages is the Craft Drinks Area in Hall 9 with its eight bars where visitors can participate in independent guided tastings of specialty drinks. They include beer specialities, alcohol-free and reduced-alcohol beers, craft spirits, water, and alcohol-free specialty drinks, as well as the effect of the glass on sensory experience. Visitors can sample “Twin Peaks,” the beer that won the hobby brewing competition of Maisel & Friends and BrauBeviale, at one of the bars every day between 15:00 and 15:30.

Small breweries, microbreweries, home brewers, and hobby brewers will find detailed information about equipment and ingredients, as well as skilled contacts, in Hall 9 at the Artisan and Craft Beer Equipment and brau@home themed pavilions. Brewing is done daily on different equipment in the area for demonstration brewing, with discussions about the differences between the various systems. Technical input is also provided during power presentations at the Speakers’ Corner. Subjects include tips and tricks related to raw materials (water, yeast, hops, etc.), hygiene, dispensing systems, and legal issues.

Other special shows and themed pavilions are devoted to “Sustainable water management in the beverage industry” (Hall 6), “Innovative drinks packaging,”including the winners of the World Packaging Award (Hall 4A) and “PET Recycling” (Hall 4A).

Thursday will come under the banner of “Generation Future”. That’s the day the BrauBeviale Forum will turn to questions and answers related to recruiting and promoting new talent. Many exhibitors plan to have the heads of their HR departments available at their stands on Thursday to serve as contacts for potential applicants.

To keep body and soul together, people also need regular meals along with their drinks. That makes it a natural to hold the SFC Street Food Convention at Exhibition Centre Nuremberg on 14 and 15 November, at the same time as BrauBeviale. This is the fourth time that players and people interested in street food, food trucks, mobile catering, and the visionary food culture will gather. Visitors to BrauBeviale will have free access to the accompanying sponsor exhibits and to the food trucks in the exhibition park.

Beviale Family: international skills in the beverage industry

From Nuremberg to the world: the international beverage industry will be meeting at Exhibition Centre Nuremberg for these few days. But at the same time the product family of the beverage industry, the Beviale Family, is also extremely active internationally. “Two years after the family was established, the results are already positive,” says Andrea Kalrait, Director Exhibition BrauBeviale and International Product Manager for Beviale Family. “Our family is growing and thriving. We are active with different event formats tailored to the target market and cooperative marketing ventures in many countries: Russia, Italy, China, India, Brazil, the UK, and Southeast Asia.” Further additions to the family are planned. Beviale Family will be on display at its own stand at the NCC Mitte entrance.

Global beverage consumption constantly growing

Worldwide consumption of packaged beverages totalled 979 billion litres in 2017, 23 billion litres more than in 2016. Experts predict that consumption will continue to increase, with estimates calling for 3 percent average annual growth up to 2022. The regions Middle East/Africa (35 percent) and Asia/Pacific with China and Japan (roughly 23 percent) are most responsible for the global increase. Experts in Europe calculated 5 percent for Western Europe and as much as 9 percent for Eastern Europe. The ratio of alcohol-free drinks to beverages containing alcohol was about 70 to 30 percent worldwide in 2017 (Euromonitor International 2018).

The consumption of beverages (including coffee, tea, and milk) in Germany declined somewhat in 2017, with every German drinking 750 litres on average, 10 litres less than in the previous year. A detailed analysis of that 10 litres shows that it is roughly made up of 3 litres of beer, 4 litres of soft drinks, 1 litre of fruit juice, and smaller amounts of wine, water, tea, and milk. Total consumption of drinks containing alcohol decreased from 134.3 litres in 2016 to 131.0 litres in 2017, with Germans also drinking 303.0 litres of alcohol-free drinks per capita in 2016 but only 297.7 litres in 2017 (beverage industry associations).

Beverage technology – greater efficiency thanks to digitalisation

German beverage technology still occupies the leading position on the world market thanks to innovative machine designs, custom services, and comprehensive information technology. Digitalisation allows remote service concepts using remote diagnosis, as well as a seamless flow of information throughout all parts of a beverage operation. Basic, quick, or preventive interventions ensure greater efficiency, including for environmentally relevant consumption.

VDMA, the Food Processing and Packaging Machinery Association, estimates that German manufacturers supply about one-third of world exports of beverage packaging machines and about half of all exports of brewery machines. For statistical purposes, beverage technology is allocated to VDMA. The approximately 600 enterprises in this sector were responsible for production volume of at least €14 billion in 2017 (2016: €13.4 billion), two-thirds of which was for packaging machines. Based on the available data through late July 2018, an uptick of 3 to 4 percent in the production volume is anticipated this year.

The export market for food processing and packaging machines is estimated to be about €41 billion worldwide, of which Germany accounts for the largest share of the export value: 21 percent or €8.5 billion. The U.S. and China are major customers, followed by the large countries of the European Union. This market benefits from the megatrends population growth, urbanisation, and a growing middle class, particularly in Asia.

Dates of the current BrauBeviale Triples:

BrauBeviale 2018: 13-15. November 2018

BrauBeviale 2019: 12-14. November 2019

BrauBeviale 2020: 10-12. November 2020