One in five visitors to drinktec comes from the dairy sector

Dairy companies also need to invest in leading-edge cost-cutting technologies if they want to succeed in the flourishing milk and milk products market. At drinktec 2013 dairies and liquid food producers can gain an overview of the latest developments and innovations in this sector. Even at the last drinktec in September 2009 over one-fifth of all the visitors came from the liquid milk product sector. This means that the world’s leading trade fair for beverage and liquid food technology is now popular with the dairy sector. As further proof of this, the major associations in the sector are holding their delegates’ meetings at drinktec.

The future for milk lies in Asia and South America
Worldwide, the consumption of milk and milk products is rising. China is an excellent example of this. The world’s most populous nation is progressively becoming increasingly accustomed to milk. The annual increase in the dairy industry here is 10 to 15 percent. It is considered certain that demand will continue to grow in the future, not least because of the Chinese government’s massive support for milk consumption. Euromonitor’s forecasts for the future reinforce this positive picture for the dairy industry, stating that worldwide milk output will rise from the present 126 billion liters to around 137 billion by 2015. Asia and the Pacific Rim will be in the vanguard here with the highest growth rates. Euromonitor says that the volume here will increase from today’s 31 billion liters to 37 billion liters, whereas consumption in Europe and North America will stagnate at a high level. A report by Tetra Pak confirms these trends. Growing prosperity in regions such as Asia and Latin America will send demand for liquid milk products soaring. The study forecasts a 30 percent growth in worldwide consumption by 2020.

Blurring market boundaries
More than almost any other foodstuff, milk affords plenty of scope for creating new products through targeted processing. This makes drinktec 2013 a must for process technology suppliers, technical managers of dairies and bottlers of milk-based beverages who want information about the enormous diversity of processing options for milk products.
The GEA Westfalia Separator Group is one of the many exhibitors offering process technology for milk processing at drinktec 2013. For Christian Frahm, Director of Business Line Dairy Technology at GEA, drinktec is also an essential venue for visitors. “The trade fair is important to us for two reasons. Firstly, boundaries between the markets are becoming increasingly blurred, with the creation of fusion products of milk and fruit juices or soft drinks and vice versa. Secondly, liquid milk products like yoghurt drinks and fresh milk are much more important in the up-and-coming dairy markets of China and the whole of Asia than, say, in Europe and America, where solid dairy products like cheese are dominant. We think that drinktec 2013’s additional focus on milk products and liquid food makes it an attractive venue for visitors from Asian countries.”

Milk – an exciting product for process technology
With fresh milk, for example, consumers want the product to last longer and at the same time preserve its full flavor and vitamin and nutrient content. But a longer shelf-life is just as beneficial to producers and the trade – itґs a win-win situation. There are various processing options on the market for producing longer-lasting fresh ESL (Extended Shelf Life) milk: steam injection, indirect heating with tubular heat exchangers, modified pasteurization, microfiltration, deep-bed filtration and double microbial decontamination with separators. Some of these technologies were introduced at drinktec 2009 and many milk producers have since used them successfully. drinktec 2013 will show refinements to these methods, so that specific solutions can be found for every need.

The industrial adjustment of the milk fat or cream fat content to the desired level is also of central importance to dairies. As with microbial decontamination, a mixture of proteins and other components results. For this valuable raw substance, process technologists have developed methods which explicitly include protein extraction. drinktec 2013 will show how this functions. Besides this, there is much development currently in the homogenization field. The efficiency of homogenization is improving appreciably, permitting higher viscosities, which is a great advantage in the manufacture of yoghurt, for instance. Dairy technologists can also expect innovations in drying technology.

Hygiene: ‘easy to clean’
Dairies have set their sights on energy-saving options, mainly for cost reasons. A possible route is the use of high-temperature heat pumps in cooling plants in the dairy industry. Developments for increasing energy efficiency still further are under way, in the drives for centrifuges for microbial decontamination or skimming of milk and whey. Hygiene is another important watchword in the dairy business. According to Knuth Lorenzen, the President of the European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group (EHEDG), consistent use of all the suggestions from Hygienic Design can considerably reduce CIP times. The motto is ‘easy to clean’, because shorter cleaning times greatly increase the availability of the plant. In all these areas, drinktec 2013 offers visitors from the dairy industry many exciting state-of-the-art technical innovations. Here, besides offering information about the latest technologies for manufacture, filling and packing, drinktec also has raw materials and logistical solutions on show. Rounding off the portfolio are the topics of beverage marketing and packaging design, which are also important for the dairy industry.
drinktec: Friday is milk day
On Friday September 20, 2013 at drinktec 2013 attention focuses on milk. At the trade fair forum in Hall A2 dairy technologists, beverage manufacturers, engineering offices and even marketing specialists can gain information about milk-related topics – there will be something for everybody. The Weihenstephan Technical University offers milk-related tours of the trade fair which are specifically designed for trainees and students.
Major associations in the sector are also using drinktec as a forum and inviting their members to Munich. The Central Association of German Dairy Business Owners (ZDM – Zentralverband Deutscher Milchwirtschaftler) will hold an Association Day on Friday, consisting of one meeting for the board and another for the delegates. In the afternoon the ZDM is planning a festival event to honor the year’s top performers, trainees and students. Alongside the ZDM, the ‘Association Europйenne des Diplфmйs de l`Industrie Laitiиre’ (AEDIL) has selected drinktec as the venue for its delegates’ meeting. The members of ZDM and AEDIL will be making use of drinktec 2013 in a number of ways, including as a platform for gathering information on the coming together of the different segments. ZDB Managing Director, Torsten Sach, comments: “Those trained in the milk industry are particularly prevalent right across the entire food industry. For this reason all the technologies that are applied in the beverage and liquid food sector and on show at drinktec are not only of interest to our members, but an essential part of their knowledge. Added to this of course, are all the many contacts across the industry.”

Both ZDM and AEDIL will also support drinktec with visitor marketing.

Further information: www.drinktec.com
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About drinktec
drinktec is the world’s leading trade fair for the beverage and liquid food industry. It is the most important trade fair for the sector. Manufacturers and suppliers from all over the world – global companies and SMEs alike – meet up here with all sizes of producers and retailers of beverages and liquid food products. Within the sector drinktec is regarded as the number one platform for launching new products on the world market. At this event manufacturers present the latest technology for processing, filling, packaging and marketing of beverages of all kinds, and for liquid food – also encompassing raw materials and logistics solutions. The themes of beverages marketing and packaging design round off the portfolio.
drinktec 2013, which takes place at the Messe Mьnchen exhibition centre in Munich, from September 16 to 20, 2013, is expected to attract around 1,500 exhibitors from over 70 countries and approximately 60,000 visitors from more than 170 countries.