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As I reviewed the recording of this year’s BevTech Europe conference, I thought to myself, “All that planning and hard work really paid off and the first-ever BevTech virtual conference was a success!” I’m not getting emotional as I write this, but I am feeling a great sense of pride in being part of the great team that made this event happen, despite the challenges and surprises along the way. The members of the BevTech Europe Planning Committee have an amazing mix of skills and expertise that drove the event planning and execution to a high standard. And the event wouldn’t have been as successful without the support and leadership of ISBT and BevTech International.

The 4-hour virtual conference took place at 2 pm on the 10^th of September via the Zoom conferencing platform and attracted 80 registrations from 18 countries. Represented among the attendees were 12 brand owners and 39 global suppliers, and we gained 9 new members, including a Ghana-based regional brand owner!

The conference began with a joint welcome message from Johannes Angres and me. Maria Piedad Lopez, the BevTech International VP, then gave an overview of ISBT, mentioning the unique benefits of being an ISBT member. This year’s conference theme, “Future Requirements, Solutions, and Uncertainties in the Beverage Industry”, was an appropriate reflection of the world in which we now live.

The first two hours of presentations met our high expectations and the lively Q & A sessions kept our speakers closely connected with the audience. The speakers for this session were Matt Garcia and Patrick Dengg from Anton Paar, Emanuelle Melloni from FT Systems, Dale Smith from FlavorActiV, and Benoit Duculot from Biofilm.

This year’s half-day program ended with our highly anticipated panel discussion on the topic of “Lessons Drawn from Managing Global Supply Chains During the COVID-19 Pandemic”. The panel was a balanced representation of different sectors of the beverage industry. We had Stefan Lustig from EFES, Philip Tappenden from Softdrinks International, and Andrew Reim from Ecolab reporting on the development of the new ISBT Pandemic Guidelines. Once again, the open discussion with the audience was lively and engaging!

Many thanks go to our Technical Program lead, Joerg Zacharias, who expertly managed this year’s program with German (or should I say, Bavarian!) precision and the 4-hour conference ended promptly at 6 pm. Following this was the long-awaited networking opportunity at the very first BevTech Europe virtual bar. This 30-minute virtual get-together gave old and new ISBT members the chance to socialize over a drink or two while social distancing!

All in all, the journey to planning this year’s BevTech Europe had many ups and downs but the outcome exceeded our expectations. This couldn’t have happened without the quality presentations from our speakers and panelists, the huge contributions from our team, and the great support of ISBT.

A big thank you to you all!

Sixty-two beverage industry professionals got together virtually for the third annual BevTech Canada Conference on Thursday, September 17, 2020.

The theme of this year’s conference was “Beverage Headlines – Industry Trends in the News”, and the agenda was jam-packed with nine speakers, each sharing unique and topical stories and technical information related to the current state of the beverage industry in Canada, the US, and Europe.

The conference kicked off with Dr. Maia Jack, Vice President of Science and Regulatory Affairs with the American Beverage Association (ABA), speaking on recent trends with sweeteners and color in the beverage market. Lothar Brauer of Brauer Consultancy Service then discussed whether or not the COVID pandemic has reduced our environmental consciousness, and what are the challenges and opportunities that exist within the new tethered cap laws that will soon come into effect. Anoop Dhaliwal and Lee Henderson from NOVA Chemicals provided a riveting discussion centered around utilizing post-consumer resin in PE enclosures to help reduce environmental impacts of the beverage industry.

The overall themes of industry trends and environmental stewardship were evident in all the presentations and the engagement from conference attendees who asked some great questions, showing that the topics were well-received and connected with the audience.

Overall, the virtual event was a great success! A special thank you to the BevTech Canada Planning Committee for working so diligently in getting the program together: David Watson, Carol Zweep, Stephan Frehner, Anoop Dhaliwal, and Anthony Amendola. And a special shout-out to James Nicholson, the technical wizard who allowed this six-hour virtual event to proceed smoothly! Thank you also to Maria Piedad Lopez for all her mentorship and guidance as we put this virtual program together.

We all hope to be able to return to a face-to-face conference for BevTech Canada 2021, so for now, next year’s conference dates and locations have yet to be finalized as we work through this next phase of the pandemic.

After 29 very active years in the beverage industry, Lothar Brauer is retiring. Lothar spent most of his career with Bericap in various technical leadership roles. He has been and still is a member and chair of various European standardization groups. Lothar joined ISBT in 1999, and his contributions to ISBT are countless! He was a founding member of BevTech Europe, Co-Chair of the Packaging Technology Technical Committee, and Chair of the Application Angle and Removal Torque (APART) Subcommittee.

Lothar is optimistic that he will have the opportunity to say “goodbye” in person to all of his friends and colleagues at BevTech 2021.

For now, Lothar is enjoying his retirement. Once in a while he can’t resist participating in ISBT activities such as the Beverage Institute Packaging Seminar or the international BevTech events, but mostly he is enjoying his favorite hobbies, such as scuba diving and cycling.

Become a pioneer and join us on the committee to be part of the first BevTech Asia Pacific! The event will be held in Bangkok, Thailand in June 2021, and we are currently looking for volunteers. We urgently need assistance in communications and marketing roles to assist with the promotion of this event and increasing ISBT’s profile in the region in an effort to gain new members. If you live or work in the Asia Pacific region and are interested in volunteer opportunities, please contact Sean Herrington (Sean@jwii.com.au) or Chris Bryant (CBryant@jord.com.au) to learn more.

Take advantage of a special promotional ISBT membership rate of $250 USD. Whether you're a brand-new member looking to attend one (or ALL) of our regional events in September and October, or you've been a member for years and just want to renew and save a few bucks, NOW IS THE TIME!

Your membership includes:

Please use the buttons below to join now or renew. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the ISBT Office.

BevTech Latin America^® - Virtual Webinar October 8, 2020

ISBT will host its 2020 Latin American Regional Conference in a virtual webinar format with 8 innovative technical presentations in Spanish!

Online Registration is Open! Registration is free for members. Non-members may join and attend at the introductory rate of $250. This rate also includes one full year of ISBT membership plus access to the other ISBT webinars, as well as all of ISBT’s manuals and guidelines.

Click here for more information and to register.

1a. ISBT Latam Introduction and Welcome - Gabriela Mejia Mecalco, Organizing Committee.

1b. ISBT Beverage Institute-Status of the Beverage Industry - Maria Piedad Lopez, Pepsico.

2. Preventing Impurities in the CO2 Used in Beverages - Ardis Ríos, Pentair

3. Granular Ferric Hydroxide GFO for Selective Removal of Arsenic in Drinking Water - Juan Carlos Pinilla, Lanxess

4. Integration of Techno-Economic and Life Cycle Analysis for Sustainable Beverage Production - Belén Salazar, Handy Seafood

5. Disinfectant PHMB-Based During the COVID-19 period - Juan Manuel Niño, Larking, Colombia

6. Laser PET Tooling on Labels - Advanced Surface Decoration Keeping the Minds Open - Jorge Alberto Pucci, Moldintec

7. Impact of Sustainable Development Objectives - Sergio Moreno Gonzalez, Coca Cola FEMSA.

8. Control and Automation of Manual Operations in the Beverage Industry as a Base of a Continuous Improvement and Regulatory Compliance - Francisco Sanchez V., ProLeit

Our technical program can be viewed on the BevTech Latin America page, or on this page in Spanish.

The mission of the Beverage Operations & Processing Technical Committee is to share the basic/best practices of beverage operations, review new/traditional beverage processing techniques, and suggest guidelines, best practices, and principles to benefit a successful beverage processing facility. John Mojonnier is the chair of this committee, which will present the latest technology and innovation at BevTech 2021.

Our current subcommittees include:

The committee is currently preparing a Seminar on Beverage Operations and Processing that will be offered in 2021. The seminar will include discussions on batching / proportioning, blending, pasteurization process methods, filling techniques, quality processes, sanitation, and related water treatment methods. Please contact John Mojonnier if you are interested.

Click the button below for more information about the committee, including a list of officers, current activities, and more.

Beverage Operations & Processing Technical Committee Chair John Mojonnier, Mojonnier Ltd

*The Beverage Industry Resource Guide contains information from Beverage Industry Supplier Members from a promotional standpoint. It is for advertising purposes and does not reflect the opinions or position of ISBT.

Silgan's New KS2 Closure for HOD Water Bottles - Silgan Closures has launched its new one-piece 55 mm KS2 plastic closure for five-gallon and three-gallon HOD (Home and Office Delivery) water bottles.

Catch Up on SGS North America's Food Webinars - As a provider of solutions for food safety, quality and sustainability, SGS North America regularly hosts food webinars so you can ensure that your knowledge of the industry is up to date.

If you have sponsored content (i.e., new products, case studies, white papers, etc.) that you would like to see mentioned in the ISBT Connection, please email steveg@datakey.org or upload to the Beverage Industry Resource Guide by October 12.