SHOW PREVIEW: BRAU BEVIALE 2011 07


figures in many cases, is suffering from weak profits. The primary factor in improving the profit situation is to adjust the costs, but this is all the more difficult because the fixed overheads in food production companies are dispro - portionately high due to the highly intensive use of plant. ‘Downsizing’, the usual top priority, has been modified to ‘rightsizing’ by Europe’s beverage producers and brewers. There are plenty of concepts for becoming leaner, but rightsizing in its correct form means improving efficiency at the same time. The German machinery construction


industry recognised energy efficiency as a megatrend at an early stage. The industry is “one of the great hopes for the end of the oil age,” comments Deutsche Bank. In the energy sector, for example, it is said that energy efficiency will be one of the biggest resources for the next 20 to 30 years, according to the World Economic Forum in its Global Risks Report 2011.


Green growth Energy reduction is only one part of the European Union’s so-called 20-20-20 targets. By 2020, the EU wants to cut CO2


packaging and more efficient use of raw materials. In this way, companies could not only help the environment, but themselves too by reviewing and optimising all production processes, according to corporate consultants Roland Berger (Green Growth, Green Profit, 2010). In other words, by cutting costs and increasing efficiency, companies can improve their profit situation and gain social acceptance as well. In short, they score in terms of sustainability. When the Brundtland Commission Report


emissions by


20 per cent (compared with 1995), and increase the share of renewable energy and energy efficiency by 20 per cent. But these measures are naturally often difficult and burdensome, and will take different periods of time. The European brewing industry has set itself ambitious targets in this connection. In December 2010, England’s brewers announced that they wanted to reduce their CO2


emissions by 17.5 per cent by


Russian parliament, the Duma, means business with its stricter alcohol policy.


Leaner through rightsizing: megatrend energy efficiency It’s a fact that alcohol consumption is declining constantly in most European countries. At the same time, European brewers are battling against considerable profit problems. The existing surplus capacities caused by the drop in sales and the frequent use of beer in special promotion campaigns are exerting strong pressure on selling prices, as business consultants KPMG wrote some time ago. Nothing has changed in this respect. Even the European beverage industry, with rising sales


2020, which would represent a reduction of 67 per cent over 1990. They also want to press ahead in terms of water consumption, which is to be cut to less than four hectolitres/hectolitre of beer – also by 2020. This equates to a reduction of 42 per cent compared with 1990. The largest international brewing concerns


are every bit as good. In March 2011, the world’s biggest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev, announced plans to cut water consumption in all 133 production locations from 4.04 hectolitres/hectolitre of beer in 2010 to 3.5 hectolitres/hectolitre of beer in 2012. Other brewers are pursuing similarly ambitious targets. In future, however, it will not just be a


question of reduced water consumption or less CO2


emissions, but of optimisation in all


conceivable areas. These also include the increased use of renewable energy, waste reduction and avoidance, weight reduction of


(Our Common Future) was published in 1987, sustainability was a niche term known only to fringe groups. Today, most of the listed brewing and beverage concerns report publicly on their social responsibility and commitment to sustainability. The term sustainability has forced its way into public awareness. Volker Hauff, the former German Minister of Research and Technology, claimed in 2010 that sustainability is the sister term of globalisation. Without a sustainability orientation, brewing and beverage companies will reach the limits of their growth sooner than they think. Sustainability is a management task in the industry today and demands a clear commitment. It is not a question of making a donation to sports clubs or saving a few hectares of rainforest. It concerns the core competencies and core responsibility of companies for their products, processes and services. This is the measure of sustainability. The modification of the world economy away from the climate-damaging wasteful use of resources towards sustainable environmentally compatible production is the megatrend of our age (Roland Berger). And it is irreversible.


About Brau Beviale 2011 Brau Beviale 2011 is the world’s most important capital goods exhibition for the beverage industry this year. Over 1,300 exhibitors present a comprehensive spectrum of high-quality beverage raw materials, innovative technologies, efficient logistics and sparkling marketing ideas in the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg from 9 – 11 November. The expected 32,000 visitors (30 per cent international) come from technical and commercial management in the European beverage industry. In 2010, more than three-quarters of the exhibitors had visitors from breweries, 42 per cent (multiple answers) were pleased about the interest shown by carbonated drink producers, followed by mineral water fillers (37 per cent) and fruit juice producers (34 per cent).


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