THREE REASONS TO BE IN ISTANBUL THIS MARCH

Three world leaders are taking the stage for the first time at our next Global Soft Drinks Congress from 9th to 11th March in Istanbul.

• One is the Chief Executive of Tata Beverage Group, which has declared its intentions of becoming a new global player.
• Second is the President of the world’s leading energy shot 5 Hour Energy.
• Third is the founder of the world’s top relaxation drink Drank.

If you need more reasons, there’s also Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Walmart, Eckes-Granini and a dozen other speakers plus a plant tour, industry dinner, great networking and so much besides.

We’re confident you won’t find a more complete global view of the industry, market, innovation, issues, prospects and contacts anywhere else.

It would be a pleasure to have you join us. For full details, please go to zenithinternational.com/events.

£470 MILLION OF WINE DOWN UK DRAINS

I’ve just been reading a disturbing report by the WRAP environmental group into avoidable food and drink waste disposed of down UK kitchen sinks.

It estimates a staggering total of £1,799 million a year. The throwaway leaders are:

Waste not, want not ?

GOOD NEWS ON PACKAGING INNOVATION

There were quite a few good news stories in January on the packaging innovation front, with a combination of sound environmental and convenience credentials. Among them:

• Sidel has claimed a lightweighting record for hot fill PET bottles at 18.9 grams for 50cl.
• Kingsland Wines and Spirits has introduced what it heralds as the lightest screwcap glass wine bottle at 300 grams instead of the standard 420 grams, a 29% reduction.
• Carling has unveiled new Taste Lock technology on its cans and improvements to its on-can temperature indicator from April.
• Looking ahead to 2011, Arla has declared its intention to start using HDPE derived from sugar cane to reduce the carbon footprint of its milk bottles.

It is particularly welcome to see that all beverage sectors are contributing.

STEEL RECYCLING AHEAD OF GLASS

With 70% of steel packaging being recycled across Europe in 2008, the steel industry remains ahead of glass, says the Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging.

Glass, however, comes close to steel on 65%, with cartons and plastics trailing at 33% and 29% respectively.

Yet Belgium already achieves a 93% recycling rate for steel, followed by Germany on 89%, then Luxembourg and the Netherlands on 87%. The United Kingdom lags seriously on 62%, just behind Slovakia on 63%.

The volumes collected for recycling are huge – 2.5 million tonnes of steel and 11.5 million tonnes of glass representing 25.5 billion bottles and jars. It’s a shame, though, that we don’t do better.

FREE WEBINAR – BEVERAGE TRENDS AND FUNCTIONAL DRINKS

In case you’re interested. I’m hosting a free market briefing webinar on 16th February. All the details are below. Hope some of you can join me.

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/225865715

GLASS RECYCLING IMPROVEMENT IN EUROPE

65% of glass bottles and jars used across the 27 countries of the European Union were collected for recycling in 2008, according to the European Glass Packaging Federation. The rate is close to 100% in Belgium and Sweden. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if every country achieved that ?

CARBON FOOTPRINTS OF DIFFERENT DRINKS

Wine has a carbon footprint 6.5 times that of bottled water, according to recent research by Nestlé Waters. Its figures are in grams of CO2 equivalent per litre.

Product	Grams	Index
Bottled water	340	100
Soft drink	510	150
Beer	910	268
Milk	1200	353
Fruit juice	1200	353
Wine	2200	647

Across the European Union, apparently, bottled water accounts for 17% of beverage consumption, but only 8% of beverage greenhouse gas emissions.