Held in Munich, drinktec is the platform to showcase new technology launches in the beverage industry.
Today, R&D professionals are looking particularly closely and how beverage operations can become more sustainable. Whether that’s in energy efficiencies or water management, each new piece of tech helps beverage producers improve their operations.
And every step forward in reducing water and energy consumption comes with the advantage of reducing costs.
Here’s some of the latest technology seeking to redefine the industry.
Porifera: Reimagining draft beer
California’s Porifera announces the commercial launch of Draftfox: a solution that reinvents how breweries move, store and serve draft beer.
Draftfox combines Porifera’s proprietary beer concentration process with a precision dispensing system: delivering fresh, full-flavored draft beer with 90% less size and weight than traditional kegs.
The system uses Porifera’s patented Forward Osmosis technology: beer is brewed traditionally and then gently concentrated by removing water.
The result is Ultra High Gravity Beer, reducing beer volume by 6x or more while preserving the full flavor, aroma, and mouthfeel that brewers and consumers expect.
Once packaged into lightweight Microkegs, the concentrated beer is dramatically easier to transport and store: cutting cold-chain requirements, lowering freight costs, and reducing CO₂ emissions.
Ecolab: AI-powered innovations to reduce water consumption
Ecolab is turning to AI to help improve sustainability and efficiencies for clean-in-place process.
Using real-time insights from CIP data to reduce cleaning time and increase production capacity, CIP IQ has a track record of 15% efficiency improvement.
Furthermore, the tech can offer AI-powered insights from the Ecolab Virtual Agent to detect wash anomalies, forecast washes and accelerate troubleshooting (for example, intelligent alerts to correct chemistry overuse).
With customers reporting a 10% reduction in water consumption, the tech helps producers work towards water circularity.
Sidel: EvoBlow Laser
Blowing technology expert Sidel has unveiled the world’s first industrialized laser-powered solution.
Sidel pioneered a commercial PET blower in the 1980s, and for decades halogen technology has been the standard for PET packaging.
However, Sidel has now launched laser-based technology to increase precision: meaning that less resources and costs are wasted.
This accuracy enables both lighter and stronger containers. While in traditional halogen solutions, preforms are heated in broad zones, the EvoBlow Laser utilises up to 36 heating lines, compared to eight zones in a comparable halogen solution.
This provides a new level of control over the material’s thickness all along the container.
Husky: advanced tech for recycled PET
Husky’s next-generation HyPET6e platform features a 200-cavity system engineered to deliver unmatched productivity.
This system introduces new advanced vacuum drying technology that takes rPET processing to the next level by delivering superior energy efficiency, precise control, material protection, and higher uptime.
HyPET 6e enables producers to process higher levels of rPET, while maintaining consistent part quality and lowering overall part costs.
Also globally launching is Husky’s next generation mid-volume PET system, HyPET NX6, designed to deliver high production efficiency and preform quality, at an affordable entry point. HyPET NX6 complements the HyPET 6e platform to offer reliable molding solution.
Meanwhile, the launch of HyCAP™ Secure+, provides a breakthrough closure forming technology that enables bottles and closures to be made entirely of PET, creating a fully circular, mono-material package.
Aptar: Lightweight closures
Aptar’s latest closure solutions are designed to align with Europe’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and Single Use Plastics (SUP) directive.
Launching three new closures at drinktec, the highlight is the Balance GME 30.40 Sport Closure.
The lightweight, mono-material (polypropylene) solution has been designed for ease of use and recyclability.
The closure supports the transition to a lighter neck finish (GME 30.40), enabling brands to reduce bottle weight without compromising the drinking experience.
Yet it still retains the core characteristics consumers want in closures: an intuitive one-handed operation; a reassuring ‘click’ upon closure; and a visible tamper-evidence system.
Krones: Closed Plastics Loop
Having taken over Netstal Maschinen AG last year, Krones has been able to offer its customers injection-moulding machines for a variety of applications, including preform production.
On show at drinktec: the latest generation of injection-moulding machines from Netstal boosts sustainable, high-performance preform production. The PET-Line 4000 produces ultra-light preforms weighing just 6.9 grams with a 25/22 thread and achieves an output of around 108,000 preforms per hour: thanks to a 144-cavity tool from MHT with integrated self-cleaning function.
This is complemented by Krones’ expertise in the field of preform and container design, and by Krones Recycling’s MetaPure plastics recycling systems.
Krones’ broad technology know-how and digital expertise will be an important foundation for establishing the closed plastics loop on a lasting basis, says the German beverage production giant.
Signode: Reducing material consumption
Signode’s new stretch wrapping machine, the Octopus Prestige, was developed with direct input from beverage industry operations.
Designed to perform in demanding, high-speed production settings, the Octopus Prestige stretch wrapper combines high-speed performance with robust reliability.
Signode, the $2bn+ global Transit Packaging Division of Crown Holdings, highlights the TopDown design (where all maintenance areas of the machine can be lowered to floor level); increased uptime thanks to fewer sensors and less wear and tear; and advanced film handling driven by the new Double-S film carriage system for stable loads and reduced film consumption.