Anyone who has ever attended the annual celebration of beer that is the Oktoberfest will tell you that the city of Munich really knows how to throw a party.
 
It therefore seems appropriate that the Bavarian capital should also play host to drinktec 2009, the biggest event for the world beverage and liquid food technology industries. Held every four years at the New Munich Trade Fair Center, drinktec is widely regarded in the sector as the premier platform for launching new products on the global market.

For six days, September 14th – 19th, drinktec will be the hottest ticket in town, attracting 70,000 visitors from more than 160 countries. And, despite the recession, the 12 exhibition halls have been fully booked for months. This year there will be 1,500 exhibitors from 60 countries, showcasing the latest technology for producing, filling and packaging and liquidfoods. It’s also the only drinks trade fair to feature entire production chains that can be demonstrated in action.

This year, for the first time, the spotlight will be on milk and milk-based drinks, with the presentation of Dairy Technology Awards and a dedicated lecture program. The awards will recognize technical innovation in the European dairy and food industry in the categories of: process and automation, packaging and filling, environment and sustainability, process management and IT, logistics and food safety. A survey by the fair’s organizers showed that nearly half of the exhibitors were also aiming their product range at the milk and liquid food segments.

The GEA Group is in no doubt about the impact that attending drinktec can have on business and 11 of its companies will be represented. Dr Stefan Pecoroni, Head of the Business Unit Beverage Technology at GEA Westfalia Separator, underlines this. “Even in a tougher business environment, investment is continuing in the global beverages industry,” he says. “Information and communication between suppliers and customers are essential for making investment decisions of this kind. For GEA, drinktec is the top market place for this. Our strong presence again demonstrates how highly we rate this fair.”

This year GEA Westfalia Separator is celebrating its 100th anniversary in the field of beer separation. Since its first separator was used to clarify beer at a Vienna brewery in 1909, the company has led the way in centrifugal technology. And the revolution continues with the new GSC 250 separator which will be on show at drinktec. With a capacity of up to 800 hectoliters per hour, the machine is the largest brewery centrifuge featuring GEA Westfalia Separator hydrostop. This special and patented ejection system produces maximum yield with minimum beer losses. In addition to brewing, GEA Westfalia Separator also offers an extensive range of decanters, separators and mechanical separation lines for the beverage, food, chemical, pharmaceutical and renewable resources industries.

GEA Brewery Systems was formed by the merger of the two internationally renowned companies Huppmann and Tuchenhagen Brewery Systems. With the combination of hot and cold process area in one company, GEA Brewery Systems is a globally-unique competence center for breweries. At drinktec it will be presenting this new form, with its extensive know-how and vast engineering experience in brewing technology and the manufacture of brewery equipment. Engineering experts and sales managers will be available at the stand to give visitors competent advice.

Bottling specialist GEA Procomac is presenting a path INSIDE ASEPTIC, which showcases the technologies for sterilizing containers and caps. A fifth generation of Unibloc Spin carousel with wet PAA (peracetic acid) steri lization system, which can reduce the total cost of ownership, will be on display, along with a carousel from the GEA Procomac VHP (vaporized hydrogen peroxide) sterilization technology. In addition, GEA Procomac presents the new “STERILBEAM” caps sterilizer unit, going beyond the Chemical AGE, which uses energy-based technology. GEA Procomac Packaging is showing POLARIS, its layer preparation system suitable for medium to high speed production.

Visitors to the GEA Wiegand section of the stand will be shown a model of an evaporation plant which is used to concentrate a variety of products within the food industry. The company is a leading designer, manufacturer and supplier of evaporation plants, distillation plants and membrane filtration plants. It also supplies systems for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries and for environmental application.

Heat exchangers are an important part of beverage and liquid food manufacture and GEA will have three companies represented in this field at drinktec. Dairy specialists GEA TDS is exhibiting its range of VARITUBE™ heat exchangers for heating, cooling, pasteurizing and ultra heat treating a variety of products. GEA Ecoflex will have its NT 50 and VT 20 plate heat exchangers and GEA Ecoserve will highlight its servicing credentials for all makes of heat exchangers.

GEA Tuchenhagen will have valves, cleaning devices and pumps on display. In particular, the new T-smart valves offer a cost-effective shut-off device during clean-in-place operations. This cuts down on cleaning cycles so that the production process can run more economically. The VARIPURE™ cleaners require fewer chemical cleaners and less energy and also produce less waste water, providing an environmentally-friendly solution while lowering costs.

Accuracy and reliability are the key selling points of electromagnetic flow metering technology which will be the main feature of the GEA Diessel exhibits. The company, which has been developing and manufacturing flow meters for more than40 years, provides complete plants and units for liquid processing, along with testing and prequalification services.

GEA Niro Soavi, which specializes in dynamic high pressure homogenization technology, will be showing its new Ariete 5315 homogenizer.

Finally, keeping cool is another important factor in the manufacture of beverages and liquid foods. This is where GEA Refrigeration comes in. It is a leading manufacturer of compressors for industrial refrigeration, offering state-of-the-art technology for all stages of production and storage. On show will be the Grasso V 1100 (piston compressor) and Grasso Ammonia Chiller.