Variety in Every Sense of the Word | Due to their numerous advantages, PET bottles continue to gain popularity both in Germany and internationally, especially in the non-alcoholic beverage segment. With beer, however, opinions differ from country to country. What types of beverages in which size of package consumers are willing to accept in PET bottles, and also which trends are on the horizon are discussed below.

PETnology Europe 2009 | “Connecting comPETence” was the motto of this year’s PETnology Congress, (PETnology GmbH, Regensburg), an annual conference devoted to all things PET. In keeping with this motto, organiser and Managing Director Barbara Appel invited experts from leading companies in marketing and technical fields to speak at the conference. This year, the PETnology conference was held on March 9 - 10, immediately prior to and in conjunction with the Anuga Foodtec in Cologne, Germany.

Identification of microorganisms (in this context yeasts from breweries) is an important task. Familiarity with foes, such as adaptable spoilage yeasts, and friends, brewers’ yeasts, is of major relevance in order to assess microbiological issues. In project B95 of “Wissenschaftsförderung der Deutschen Brauwirtschaft e. V.“, an established identification method, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy is used on yeasts from breweries. Investigations focus on both direct product-spoiling foreign yeasts, as well as indicator yeasts for assessment of the hygiene status of products and production facilities, together with top and bottom-fermenting culture yeasts.

Canned beverages are popular worldwide and are enjoying a general growth trend. For perfect filling of any type of can, the KHS Innofill DVD offers a computer-controlled volumetric filling system that has already proven itself worldwide for many years. While retaining a comprehensive list of advantages, the Innofill DVD has undergone further development. Increased availability thanks to minimization of changeover work, faster sanitizing cycles, hygienic design and enhanced automation – these are just a few of the features the new Innofill DVD design boasts.

A “little bit of aseptics” or a “floating concept involving normal operation, cold preservation or UltraClean” cannot assure sustained compliance with the necessary standards that have to be met by microbiological processes, as well as with hygiene and aseptic requirements in aseptic cold filling. As the diversity of beverages is forcing up the standards applicable in hygienic and aseptic filling, it is necessary to revise acceptance criteria accordingly for the filling equipment involved.

This service builds on Sidel’s existing PET package development offer. From bottle design to material selection, industrial feasibility testing and the control of mechanical performance, Sidel possesses well-recognized expertise in PET packaging development along with its knowledge of beverages. With an investment of one million EUR, Sidel has assembled the necessary resources to implement this new service.

“Our combination filling and packaging system is equipped to handle a variety of disposable and returnable containers such as returnable flip-top bottles, disposable bottles, cans and NRW-style bottles. This line assembles orders anywhere from 20 pallets to several hundred pallets in cooperation with the ordering and warehousing departments,” relates Uwe Daebel, production manager of the Paulaner Brewery in Munich as he describes the demands placed on the Krones line which was recently installed for Hacker-Pschorr and Paulaner products.

P.E.T. Engineering does not aim to achieving easy going records. According to the belief that a PET bottle corresponds to technology, resistance and lightness, and that its design has to be functional, the Research & Development department of P.E.T. Engineering challenged the market, proposing a 0.5 l. bottle with only 6.6 g. PET, which answers exactly to the standards of bottling, palletization, transport and marketing sectors, also concerning the vending machines.

The “First Obermurtaler Brewing Cooperative” is one of the last well-known Austrian private breweries. The rapid growth the brewery has experienced over the past years (+ 52 percent since 1995) can be attributed, in part, to the packaging in cardboard 6 and 4 packs beloved all over the “Alpine Republic”. A new repacking system has led to growth and increased sales for the brewery.

Cost leadership, ultra-affordable pricing, a complete range of products and (inter)national distribution are the four cornerstones on which the Oettinger company has been built. Doing without media advertising and costly packaging is part of the overall concept. The first non-returnables glass line has recently been commissioned at the headquaters in Oettingen. The line will mainly produce for export and was manufactured and installed by the Krones AG.