News for the Beverage and Liquid Food Industry
In the past few years, Australia’s beverage industry has seen a significant trend away from sugar-sweetened soft drinks. This downturn follows the worldwide demand for low- and no-sugar drink alternatives. This trend – as well as the current Covid-19 pandemic – has a massive impact on the country’s PET use.
PET bottles have their advantages. They are nearly indestructible and light as a feather. However, they draw clear criticism due to their excessive use of resources and the pollution caused when they are carelessly thrown away. Specifically, when it comes to resource conservation, the EU is demanding the increased use of recycled PET (rPET). By 2025, all PET bottles are to be made up of at least 25% rPET. Leading companies in the industry are currently working on surpassing these EU regulations with new solutions to develop even more sustainable PET containers.
About 4 billion people experience severe water shortages at least once a month every year and more than 2 billion people have no access to drinking water. At the same time, global water consumption is rising and forcing the brewing, beverage and liquid food industry to practice sustainable water management.
Water is in short supply around the world: Supplies are sinking as demand is rising. For this reason, state-of-the-art treatment systems and sustainable water management are becoming increasingly important. They are also prompting the beverage industry to come up with new solutions. Membrane processes and intelligent recycling strategies are particularly important here.
The market for rum has grown vigorously in recent years both worldwide and in Germany with the premium price segment, in particular, expanding steadily. The variety of spirits is also a major factor in rum’s success.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a topic of growing importance for the beverage industry and its suppliers. There is still a lot of speculation as to how AI can be best integrated into the relevant business models, but there is no denying that the beverage industry is making greater use of it.
As the saying goes, “with ownership comes responsibility”. Companies are expected to be more socially committed today than ever before, and almost no company can avoid it. This is also true in the beverage industry. Here are some examples demonstrating how Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an dronkimportant issue.
Sustainable packaging is now trending. New EU plastic guidelines and the global discussion surrounding climate change and pollution of the world’s oceans have ensured that manufacturers of beverages and beverage packaging are developing innovative concepts and continuing to push ahead with research activities aimed at recycling.
With Fridays for Future driving change, sustainable beverage packaging is increasingly shifting into focus of the consumer.