Packaging

DRINKTEC 2009 – PRODUCT AND TECHNOLOGY TRENDS (PART 1)

Thursday 03. September 2009 - Why is alcohol-free beer so trendy? Is PLA a serious challenger to PET? Is the sun going to be the main source of energy for the beverages industry of the future? And what does the label of the future 'say'?

At drinktec 2009, World Fair for Beverage and Liquid Food Technology, it´s not all about the technology used to manufacture and bottle beverages and liquid food – it is also of course about the products themselves. Without the technology there would be no products. But new products, in turn, can sometimes foster the development of new technologies. What follows is a brief (and by no means comprehensive) look at some of the very latest themes from the world of beverages and food. Topics that are being hotly debated in the sector at the moment and which in some cases are already affecting consumer behaviour: Product and technology trends, Part 1.

Alcohol-free beer captures the mood of the moment
Sales of beer from Bavarian breweries fell in the first half of 2009 by 4.1 %, but over the same period sales of alcohol-free beer rose by 9 %. In Bavaria, of all places, the home of beer! Are we seeing a kind of cultural revolution? Well, yes, in a way, because alcohol-free beer reflects the current zeitgeist, and it is also the only bitter-tasting sports drink!

Alcohol-free beer is low in calories, isotonic, has an almost perfect spectrum of complex sport sugars, amino acids and minerals, and is more than 90 percent pure water – from a sportsperson´s point of view, it´s the ideal drink for regeneration and rehydration. The only thing to watch is the high potassium content, which can have a diuretic effect if sodium intake is too low. So, a salty pretzel with an alcohol-free beer is a great way to unwind after an energetic training session or competition. The same is true for other sports drinks, too – a pinch of salt in the drinking bottle is a good idea and an important point.

But there are other reasons why alcohol-free beer is recommended as a sports drink: it is kind to the stomach and has a comparatively high pH value, combined with a moderate carbonic acid content. Then there´s the hop itself, of course, which has a relaxing and therefore restorative effect. And not least bitter beverages can be consumed in higher quantities. All of this supports the actual main purpose of a sports drink – to provide the body with water and nutrients.

There are two ways of producing these sporting wonders: One is to remove the alcohol from the fermented beer. For this distillation or membrane processes are used that work at a low temperature. This method achieves beers which have zero-percent alcohol. The second way is interrupted fermentation, in which the brewer only allows the beer to reach the minimum permissible quantity of alcohol.

Whatever production method is used, however, one thing is always clear: no alcohol-free beer can ever taste just like the original with alcohol. But then again, why should it, because it isn´t trying to be just a copy, but a unique product in its own right. It is the only bitter alternative in the whole spectrum of sweet sports and soft drinks.

The taste of beer is certainly one of the themes at drinktec 2009 – in the tasting sessions with Karl Schiffner, World Champion Beer Sommelier (on 15, 16 and 17 September, from 11.30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 4 to 5.30 p.m. in the drinktec Lounge in Hall B1) and in the lectures in Forum 2 in Hall B1. There, one of the theme blocks on Wednesday, 16 September, focuses on ‘News for the brewing process’.

Further information on this topic and on raw materials and ingredients in general is available from the following exhibitors (and others) at drinktec 2009:
Döhler (B2.302), Wild (B1.101), Weyermann Specialty Malts (B1.503), Global Malt (B1.500), BENEO-PALATINIT (B1.325-1), Barth & Sohn (B1.312).

Organic is ‘in’ – for packaging, too
Environmentally conscious consumers like to buy organic. Preferably also in organic packaging. Not least because, as we all know, the plastics used today all come from the same source, and one that sooner or later is going to dry up – crude oil. For this reason, the packaging sector is moving more towards renewable materials.

The market for organic plastics, made from renewable resources like wheat, maize or sugar cane, is growing annually by 20 to 30 percent. Already we are seeing the first organic containers for non-carbonated drinks and for the processing of liquid foods. The main material to mention here is polylactic acid (PLA), as its properties are like those of PET. As a result PLA has tremendous growth potential, because in 2009 alone no less than 350 billion PET containers will be produced worldwide. Just to what extent PLA could challenge the dominant PET will be explored at drinktec at the 2nd PLA Bottle Conference, on 14 and 15 September.

The second big market, alongside containers, is in packaging foils. Here, too, there are some interesting new developments: In an EU research project, for example, new-style flexible papers with a multilayer structure are being developed entirely out of renewable resources. The Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging, of Freising, is delivering special techniques which improve the barrier properties (to water vapour and oyygen) of the pre-coated paper. Antimicrobial coatings are also being worked on. In one of these materials whey protein is being used – to give the foil excellent barrier properties against oxygen and moisture. In addition the antimicrobial constituents naturally found in whey are being exploited to extend the length of time foods can stay fresh.

To conclude, an important point: Many organic plastics are regarded as compostible, but this is only true to a certain extent. Most of them rot down very slowly, or need to be heated to fully decompose – and that of course counts against them in an eco-audit. In any case, these materials are far too valuable for them to be only used once. Recycling is and will continue to be the next big area for the future. Anyone who wants to know what is possible in this area, now and in the future, will be heading for one place only in September – to drinktec 2009 in Munich.

Further information on the subject of packaging materials and foils is available from the following exhibitors (and others) at drinktec 2009:
Krones (B6.100), KHS (B4.333), CCL Label GmbH (B5.424), Händler & Natermann (B5.436), Husky Injection Molding Systems (B3.502)

Smart packaging – fiction or reality
In the science-fiction film Minority Report, Steven Spielberg had Cornflakes packets with printed cartoon films playing on them. Although this particular vision is still a long way off – the film is set in 2054, the technology to make this kind of thing happen is already within reach.

‘Smart packaging’, which provides additional information to consumers in different languages, can read out instruction leaflets to visually-handicapped people, or play an advertising spot on printed foil monitors. Already the road to achieving this kind of electronic wizardry is mapped out. The key is intelligent ink. The strip conductors and components are made of organic polymers which are dissolved in a liquid phase, making them processible on a kind of inkjet printer.

The declared aim of the developers here is to be able to offer such a chip for use in the mass segments of the beverages industry, at a price of under one cent. Within just a few years this should be a reality. These printed RFID labels will then be able to monitor temperature accurately all the time and store and transfer data. And it´s not only this kind of passive data storage that is at the threshold of large-scale industrial manufacture, so, too, are active electronic circuits made up of transistors, resistors, LEDs and capacitors also manufactured with inkjet printers. One idea is even to supply energy from printed batteries or solar cells. That is the key to animated images or advertising jingles.

Printed electronics is opening up fascinating new potential: According to a report by market researchers NanoMarket, the market volume in electronic inks and substrates used in the manufacture of printed electronics, will rise from 1.1 billion dollars in 2008 to over 11.5 billion by 2015. And if visions can be valued in money, this shows one thing quite clearly: the smart future is already well under way.

Just what innovations are in store in the global packaging market can be seen from 14 September at drinktec 2009 in Munich, the world´s No. 1 fair for beverages and liquid food technology.

Further information on the subject of smart packages is available from the following exhibitors (and others) at drinktec 2009:
Krones (B6.100), KHS (B4.333), Töpfer Kulmbach GmbH (B5.426), RFID Anwenderzentrum München (A2.419)

Energy from the sun
The worldwide reserves of crude oil, natural gas and uranium are predicted to run out in just a few decades. Only coal is set to last centuries. Beverage and food manufacturers, too, with their energy-intensive products, are having to look around for alternative sources of energy. Within this energy mix of the future, the sun will play a key role.

Making use of the sun as a permanent supplier of energy makes economic sense, even in countries like Germany. This is already being seen in modern housing construction, where the emphasis is on first reducing heating demand, and then covering the remaining demand through solar-thermal systems.

The same process applies to industrial use. Particularly when the latest collector technology is installed. A modern collector, set up in Würzburg for example, yields around 400 kWh/m²a and delivers process water at 140°C. The flat-plate collectors generally used in residential construction deliver around 200 kWh/m²a and hot water at a maximum of around 70°C. This hot process water is stored in an insulated tank and used for individual ‘consumers’ (mash tun, bottle-washing machine). Around 50 percent of the total annual demand for thermal energy – even of a brewery, where a lot of boiling goes on – can be met with the help of the sun.

One obvious and very sensible use of solar energy is to produce process cold. This can be done by means of absorption cooling systems operating on hot water generated by solar-thermal collectors. Some are familiar with this type of chiller from camping fridges that operate on a gas flame.

But what happens when the sun isn´t shining? Even then solar is still the answer. Because locally sourced wood chippings and the biogas obtained from biomass are nothing else but stored solar energy. And they can be transformed into process heat at any time. Just how this can be done sustainably is something that visitors to drinktec 2009 can find out for themselves, for example, in a series of lectures on ‘Resource – Water’ in the forum programme.