Business News
Beer – a diverse market calls for customised solutions – drinktec exhibits them
Friday 10. July 2009 - No global recipe for success
In 2008 global beer production increased yet again, with the total output almost reaching the next stage of two billion hectolitres. Consequently beer is continuing to boom – but not at the same pace everywhere. The global recipe for success is not yet in sight, as each market continues to have its individual aspects. That naturally has an impact on a brewerys machinery, but there is at least one general principle that applies worldwide: all machinery and systems today must deliver the required quality of beer and also actively help breweries to work more flexibly and economically, to use ingredients better and to conserve resources – in production, filling and transportation in equal measure. The state of the art in this sector will be demonstrated from 14 to 19 September 2009 at the undisputed leading fair for beverage technology – drinktec in Munich.
In 2007 the global beer market had risen to just under 1.8 billion hectolitres (hl), mainly due to increased sales in the newly industrialized countries. Just under half of the total increase of 91 million hl at that time was accounted for by China, the nation that has produced the most beer every year since 2002, and this took its share of global beer production to 22 percent. Other countries with high rates of increase in production were Russia, Ukraine, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela and Vietnam.
China: diminishing profits
Although beer production in China is expected to continue to grow significantly in the future, too, rising production and raw material costs are leading to reduced profits. At least 70 percent of business in the Peoples Republic is done in the low-price segment, where the tough competition and price-conscious customers mean that increased costs can only be passed on to a limited extent. Also, China is regionally a very disparate market, so while analysts currently see great growth opportunities in the north-west and in central China, albeit mainly in the low-price segment, the more affluent conurbations – led by Beijing – are considered to be almost saturated.
Germany: Wheat beers and alcohol-free beer are on the up
In Germany the industry is continuing to suffer from the three-decade-long decline in beer consumption. In 1976 Germans drank on average around 151 litres of beer per head, but in 2007 this had decreased to 111.7 litres. A further drop of one to two percent is expected in 2008, which would mean consumption per head would fall by 2.2 litres to 109.5 litres per year. The future does not look much brighter either – consumption will soon drop to less than 100 litres.
However there are some glimpses of light. According to the figures of AC Nielsen, not every type of beer is suffering from buyer reticence. Pils, and in particular Export and Alt, and black beer have lost sales, but customers have been buying more wheat beer and in particular alcohol-free beer. Demand has also been generated through packaging, especially the smaller returnable packaging units, for example the 0.33 litre six-pack or the 6 x 0.5 litre multipack. According to the Nuremberg consumer-research company GfK, many consumers bought these as an alternative to the disposable packs that disappeared from the shelves of food retailers after the introduction of the mandatory deposit. And in addition demographic changes are speeding up this trend to small packaging units.
Flexible, efficient, large, small
The product and packaging portfolio of a brewery will therefore become increasingly variable – flexibility is the in thing. And there will also be more emphasis on working more efficiently, all over the world in fact. In future every residual product or by-product will be used, to increase the efficiency of the overall process.
In addition breweries will continue to grow, in order to distribute their per-hectolitre investment and production costs as widely as possible. Think big – size matters. But there is also space for niche or regional suppliers. Speciality and innovative products and proximity to customers may be ways that lead to success in strongly consolidated markets. There will therefore also be a market for smaller machinery and systems, but they must measure up to the big companies technologically.
Whether breweries are big or small, locally- regionally- or globally-oriented, as long as they are focused on the future drinktec 2009 will have raw materials and technical solutions to interest them all. In Hall B2 almost 11,000 square metres is devoted exclusively to process technology for beer and malt. Of course full-service providers such as KRONES (Hall B6) and GEA Brewery systems (Hall A4) are also presenting relevant technologies. It is worthwhile every brewer taking a look in Halls A1 and A2, at an 11,000 square-metre display of all the latest containers and packaging materials (barrels, cans, glass, boxes, bag-in-box etc.), mobile facilities, and restaurant and catering equipment of all kinds.
In the Forum Programme on Wednesday 16 September a series of talks for the brewing industry, Whats new in the brewing process is taking place in Forum 2 in Hall B1. Simultaneous translation into German and English is provided for all talks.