E-Malt.com News article: Germany: Closing Report on drintkec 2005

Top result for drinktec 2005
– 50% of visitors from outside Germany
– 161 countries represented

· Approx. 70,000 trade visitors
· Reaching new markets with the section on Liquid Food
· Customers from all over the world are placing orders again
· Good prospects for post-fair business

Over 70,000 trade visitors from 161 countries attended drinktec 2005, setting new standards for this top event in the international beverages industry. Half the total number of visitors came from outside Germany. drinktec 2005, the world´s leading trade fair for beverages and liquid food technology, attracted 40% more visitors from abroad than in 2001, when the event was two days longer. In particular there was a clear increase in the number of visitors from the US, Japan, South America and central and eastern Europe, especially from Russia. Overall the proportion of trade visitors from outside Germany rose significantly from 36% at the last event to around 50% this year. Around 50 more countries were represented at drinktec in 2005 than in 2001. These impressive figures are strong confirmation of drinktec´s role as the world´s leading business platform for the international beverages sector.

Norbert Bargmann, Managing Director of Messe München GmbH, the organiser of the fair, was very upbeat in his assessment of the six-day fair: "Together with the VDMA, our conceptual sponsors, we put a lot of effort, in the run-up to the fair, into contacting our customers all around the world. The excellent response to the fair shows that our efforts have paid off. We succeeded in attracting new target groups to drinktec, in particular from the fields of milk processing, soft drinks and PET." The managing director of the VDMA-affiliated food-processing and packaging-machinery association, Richard Clemens, backs this up: "We were all delighted with the very high proportion of international visitors. The unique quality of drinktec is shown in the fact that it attracts trade visitors from all regions around the world."

Exhibiting in the twelve halls at the fair was an array of companies from all around the world, among them the leading beverages producers and top players in the sector. The mood was decidedly positive on all six days of the fair, with exhibitors reporting many new contacts and interesting talks that promise very good post-fair business. Also, the number of business deals actually concluded at drinktec 2005 was noticeably high. Volker Kronseder, Chairman of Krones AG, commented: "Krones AG signed considerably more deals at this fair than at the previous event four years ago. drinktec 2005 has thus exceeded our expectations."

The exhibitors and visitors participating in this year´s drinktec rated the event even more highly than in 2001. In a survey conducted by opinion researchers TNS Infratest, 78% of the exhibitors (2001: 60%) and 93% of the visitors (2001: 92%) rated drinktec 2005 as "excellent to good". Almost all the visitors were trade visitors (96.5%). The survey also revealed the exhibitors´ view of the visitors: that they came from almost all the countries around the world and that they were highly knowledgeable and qualified. 86%of the exhibitors – considerably more than in 2001 – rated the international spread and quality of the visitors as "excellent to good". 89% of the visitors have executive power or are influential in investment decisions. The trade visitors, in turn, were very impressed with the range on display at the fair, with the fact that the market leaders were present and with the international spread among the exhibitors. Each of these criteria was given the rating "excellent to good" by over 90% of visitors.

drinktec 2005 was not only more international than the previous event, it appealed to a wider market and audience, through the inclusion of a new section on Liquid Food. This became clear from the exhibitors survey, in which 71% of the exhibitors (2001: 58%) said they had been successful in making new business contacts, and 78% (2001: 65%) in paving the way for new business deals. Many exhibitors, above all suppliers of integrated technology, were able this time to also welcome trade visitors from the milk-processing segment to their stands. This segment has now become a firm component of drinktec. "drinktec is now also the most important platform worldwide for innovations in milk processing," said Marcus Ley, European Marketing Manager at Ecolab GmbH.

drinktec also fulfilled expectations as a key platform for innovations and further developments. 79% of the visitors said that their search for innovations had been successful at the fair. "Among the exhibitors and visitors at drinktec, there was a clear commitment to innovation," explained Hans-Peter Voss, Managing Director of WILD GmbH. Visitors were particularly impressed by the range of machinery and plant for beverages manufacture and processing on display at the fair, spanning cleaning, filling and closing machinery, packaging technology and packaging materials.

PETpoint was a great success with both exhibitors and visitors. For the first time the whole theme of PET was presented in full in a compact forum. Reto Moger, Reto Morger, Marketing Manager at Netstal-Maschinen AG, summed it up: "PETpoint has found just the right place at drinktec in Munich for reaching and serving its target audience. Everything needed for filling and packaging the product is presented here under one roof." 90% of visitors agreed with his summary, rating the PET section as "excellent to good". The exhibition was accompanied by the very successful second PET World Congress.

The events in the accompanying programme also met with a very positive response. The two lecture forums again proved to be a popular platform for information and communication. 40 experts from research institutes gave lectures on current developments in the field of technology, products, logistics and marketing. The accompanying programme was rounded off with a number of competitions and awards ceremonies, among them the Cartonated Drinks Awards and the Brewing Industry International Awards. In the case of the latter, this was the first time the awards have been presented outside Great Britain.

These impressive figures and ratings underline strongly drinktec 2005´s success in providing important new impetus to the sector. The general mood among visitors and exhibitors at the end of this six-day fair was optimistic as regards the future. The Italian supplier, SIPA Plastic Packaging Systems, commented: "Most of our visitors have projects that show us the situation in the market is improving." New perspectives will also be the focus at the next drinktec, which takes place from 14 to 19 September 2009.


20 September, 2005