The flourishing Indian alco-bev industry witnessed the second edition of India’s only comprehensive international trade fair and conference, Craft Drinks India 2019, at Manpho Convention Centre in Bengaluru.

It was inaugurated by Mr Matthias van der Straeten, Deputy Head (Economic Affairs) at the German Consulate in Bengaluru.

Mr Narayan Manepally, the Chairman of CDI Advisory Committee and co-founder of Geist Beer; Mr Michael Vachon, Co-founder of Maverick Drinks (UK), Ms Sonia Prashar, Chairperson of the Board and MD of NürnbergMesse India; along with Pradeep Deviah, Chairman & CEO of PDA Trade Fairs Pvt. Ltd. were present at the inauguration.

It was followed by the CDI Annual International Conference, ‘Grain to Glass 2.0’, where a wealth of experience and expertise was shared on most relevant topics, as well as current trends in the industry.

Speakers at the conference included some of the prime movers of the alco-bev segment in India and overseas, drawn from across the beer, wine and spirits sectors.

New technologies

Being the only comprehensive platform positioned to convert the sector’s potential to commerce, the 2nd edition saw more than 100 exhibitors displaying cutting edge technologies and expertise for the alco-bev industry.

There was a mix of new exhibitors, as well as returning high-profile brands, offering an array of products and services. On the brewing and distilling side, CDI-2019 hosted Thermax, Lehui, Spectraa Technologies, Prodeb Brewing Equipment and Taurus Engineering, among others.

The testing, lab equipment’s and instrumentation section was represented by AV Measurement and Control, Mettler Toledo, Anderson Negele, Alfa Laval and Endress Hauser among others.

CDI-2019 expanded its canvas by attracting newer brands like Krones Packaging, USP Packaging, SSP Packaging, Worldpack, Ningbo HGM Food Machinery, Cask Global, Kitten, Techpac and Kegwerks Janus International.

Brands like DVKSP, Zytex, Hambleton Bard, PMV Malting, Fermentis and others represented the raw materials and products for brewing and distilling.

Chemicals and dispensing are other notable categories CDI-2019 offered with brands like Ace Technologies, Sanky Consulting, Fosroc, Chembond Calvatis Hygiene and Chemline Global demonstrating the best of what the industry has to offer.

The trade show included products from technologies offering production and process plants, pipework, pumps, valves and associated fittings, cleaning equipment, materials and systems, environmental, effluent and pollution control, and fermentation and ageing containers.

Exhibitors at the event also provided scope to customise practical and affordable solutions as per the client requirements. The market reaction was reflected upon the significantly higher visitor registration and the organisers are quite kicked with the traction the event is gaining.

Brewing workshop

Riding on the overwhelming response from the community, CDI organised yet another vibrant workshop conducted by Versuchs-und Lehranstalt Für Brauerei (VLB) from Berlin. The technical workshop on ‘Microbial Quality Assurance Plan and Beer Spoilage Bacteria’ consisted of presentations on how to tackle beer spoilage by microorganisms.

The session elaborated on how to set up a quality-assurance plan in relation to microbiology in a brewery. Likewise, enabled breweries to effectively address quality questions and uncover potential problems thus incurred.

Returning for the 2nd edition of CDI from Berlin was Mr Jan Biering, who conducted the technical workshop with Ms Gayatri Mehta. Jan is a scientific worker and consultant at VLB- Berlin, a post he has held since 2012.