drinktec cuts a day

West entrance throng at drinktec 2009

Move to five day fair welcomed

The masses have spoken and the organisers have listened: the upshot is that drinktec, arguably the brewing industry’s most influential trade fair, is to be shortened to five from six days come its next inception in 2013.

A survey of exhibitors following the close of drinktec 2009, staged last September in Munich, found that almost all of those surveyed were in favour of dropping the Saturday opening. Besides making the trade fair more efficient, doing away with Saturday allows exhibitors to avoid the Sunday ban on truck movement which applies in Germany.

The decision was taken by exhibition management in consultation with drinktec’s advisory board. Messe München managing director Dr Reinhard Pfeiffer commented, “The Saturday was in the end an anachronism; quite simply it no longer fits into modern trade-fair practices. Together with our exhibitors we are confident that shortening drinktec to five days is the right decision.”

Immediate reaction to the announcement from drinktec exhibitors contacted by Brewers’ Guardian has been supportive of the change. Dr Thomas Buhler, Ecolab segment marketing director, flow, Europe, said, “I think it’s a good idea. The change in exhibition visitor behaviour means that it is a logical movement.” Ecolab, he added, will most likely be back in Munich come 2013.

Over at Fermentis, marketing & administration manager Sophie Castelain thought that the change would result in no loss of business contacts, “Saturday was more open to the public than the business visitors, who were gone on Thursday night or Friday morning.”

There were similar sentiments from pressure-sensitive label specialists Spear. Marketing manager Matt Davies commented, "For us, the past two times at drinktec we have been more than happy with the volume and quality of people we have been able to deal with in Monday to Friday. The dropping of Saturday will have minimal impact on our show." Spear plans to exhibit to drinktec in 2013. 

The loudest voice in any discussion of drinktec's destiny may well be Krones, with the brewing industry supplier traditionally the exhibition's greatest supporter as evidenced by stand space booked. Krones chairman Volker Kronseder told BG, "We are fully in agreement with the shortened time period. We, too, know that trade visitors always schedule their stay at the fair within the five working days. The goal of showcasing the latest developments and trends in the sector for the trade public is thus achieved. There is accordingly no reason not to give the fair a short, compact and nonetheless efficient temporal framework."

The next drinktec, the world fair for beverage and liquid food technology, is now set for 16th-20th September 2013. The 2009 event attracted more than 1,400 exhibitors from 72 countries. Over the six days more than 60,000 visitors attended, drawn from more than 170 countries with 33,000 from outside Germany.

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