PETpla.net Insider 05 / 2020

PACKAGING / PALLETISING PETplanet Insider Vol. 21 No. 05/20 www.petpla.net 26 Unsurprisingly, the global demand for filling machines has also increased. According to VDMA state- ments, filling and capping machines worth over 7.4 billion euros were exported around the globe in 2018, 3.6 per cent more than in 2017. The beverage industry accounts for a high share of these exports. Ger- many is the export world champion. The country exported filling and capping machines worth more than 2.3 billion euros in 2018. This is equivalent to an increase of five per cent compared to 2017. Italy is right behind in second place, with an export value of more than 1.4 billion euros. This number has increased slightly, by about 0.3 per cent compared to 2017. German production of beverage filling machines reached 2.2 billion euros (an increase of 1 per cent) in 2018, whilst production of beverage manufacturing machines reached 552 million euros – an increase of 6.7 per cent compared to 2017. Changed consumption conditions Global consumption of beverages has increased; at the same time, beverages are now being consumed in a completely different manner. The increase in out-of-home con- sumption and the desire for more convenience has led to a rising demand for individual beverages in light-weight packaging and smaller batches. Furthermore, the proportion of consumers in the 50+ generation is higher than average in the field of beverages, at almost 40 per cent. In future, these Baby Boomers will become more and more impor- tant as a target group for beverage suppliers, the Interpack organisers believe. Packaging that is designed in a way that makes them easy to open and just as easy to reseal could be one of the expectations of this generation. Prospects for the global beverage industry Data provided by British market research institute Euromonitor International and the VDMA Food Processing and Packaging Machinery Association show that, in 2018, 947 billion litres of beverages were consumed globally. By 2023, the demand is expected to increase even further – by 16.3 per cent to over one trillion litres (1,101 billion litres). PACKAGING Demands on the industry The beverage industry needs to be able to react to the continually chang- ing demands of consumers and trade by providing a variety of products in increasingly shorter timescales. In this area, digital printing pro- vides maximum flexibility. Marketing strategies can be implemented over- night, without having to worry about first using up bottle labels currently in stock. The printing process can be used on the new virgin PET as well as on rPET and uses inks that can be removed from the PET without any residue during recycling. www.interpack.de