PETpla.net Insider 10 / 2016

imprint EDITORIAL PUBLISHER Alexander Büchler, Managing Director HEAD OFFICE heidelberg business media GmbH Bunsenstr. 14 69115 Heidelberg, Germany phone: +49 6221-65108-0 fax: +49 6221-65108-28 info@hbmedia.net EDITORIAL Kay Barton Heike Fischer Gabriele Kosmehl Michael Maruschke Ruari McCallion Waldemar Schmitke Wolfgang von Schröter Anthony Withers WikiPETia.info Doris Fischer doris.f ischer@hbmedia.net MEDIA CONSULTANTS Martina Hirschmann hirschmann@hbmedia.net Johann Lange-Brock lange-brock@hbmedia.net phone: +49 6221-65108-0 fax: +49 6221-65108-28 LAYOUT AND PREPRESS EXPRIM Werbeagentur Matthias Gaumann | www.exprim.de READER SERVICES Till Kretner reader@hbmedia.net PRINT Chroma Druck & Verlag GmbH Werkstr. 25 67354 Römerberg Germany WWW www.hbmedia.net | w ww.petpla.net PETplanet Insider ISSN 1438-9459 is published 10 times a year. This publication is sent to qualified subscribers (1-year subscription 149 EUR, 2-year subscription 289 EUR, Young professionals’ sub- scription 99 EUR. Magazines will be dispatched to you by airmail). Not to be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. Note: The fact that product names may not be identified as trademarks is not an indication that such names are not registered trademarks. 3 PET planet Insider Vol. 17 No. 10/16 www.petpla.net Dear friends of PETplanet Insider, The K fair is just around the corner. It is of interest to everyone involved in the world of plastics, and thus also to PET, which leads us smoothly to the world of beverages. Whilst many areas of the plastic industry are growing, the supplier landscape for PET bottle fillers is stagnating at a high level. There are numerous reasons for this. On the one hand, in countries such as China there is serious overcapacity, causing sales of machines and plants to collapse. Europe has been stagnant for years, with any investment going towards replacing machinery. South America seems to swing constantly from feast to famine. Investments in North America are going primarily to large water bottlers, who dominate the mass market. India struggles to realise its full potential, whilst in developing African countries, investment hotspots are few and far between. Small wonder then, that all of us involved in editing our K-fair preview are finding press releases dominated by the theme of evolution rather than revolution. The beverage industry overall may be showing signs of stagnation, but the beer sector is proving more robust. There, the craft beer movement has given birth to completely new companies, all of which need to be supplied with equipment. The classic providers of breweries and filling plants have tended to target large multi-nationals and now have a problem providing this fast-growing sector with technologically and financially appropriate equipment. The prices of good technology are such that the typical ROI is perhaps 15 years or maybe more. So the traditional suppliers are falling over themselves to offer better value equipment with perhaps simpler technology, but with an ROI of only three years. Winning these customers back when they have grown becomes very difficult. Thus slowly and discreetly there emerges a new supplier market for the beverage industry, and in the water and soft drink industry we will experience the same thing as has happened with beer. Established suppliers could also miss a trend here - which will make the large plant business difficult later on. So let’s keep our eyes and ears open and watch how exhibitors at K fair try to meet the demands of these new and expanding trends. Yours, Alexander Büchler