With effect from 1 October 2009 Messe München GmbH is taking over the rights to the PETpoint brand from heidelberg business media GmbH (hbmedia), Heidelberg. Overall responsibility for drinktec and PETpoint is therefore now with Messe München. PETpoint is a presentation platform for technologies for manufacturing beverage packaging made of PET. Since 2005 it has been integrated into drinktec, the World’s Leading Trade Fair for Beverage and Liquid Food Technology.
Despite the difficult economic climate, PETpoint was able to expand again at the last event. Within drinktec 2009 it took up 50 percent more space than at drinktec 2005. Demand was high not only among the exhibitors, but also among the visitors to the PETpoint display. 95 percent of the drinktec visitors rated the range on show at PETpoint as 'excellent to good' according to a survey conducted by market researchers TNS Infratest.
All in the same hands
Now we are gathering together in one organisational framework that which has long since belonged together – this is how Dr Reinhard Pfeiffer, the Managing Director at Messe München responsible for drinktec, sees the completed fusion between drinktec and PETpoint: For the exhibition management it is simpler if everything is organised by one source; visitor communication, too, will be easier. In terms of content we will be continuing what has so successfully been built up over the years. The subject of PET will remain an important component of drinktec.
Over six years of successful cooperation with Messe München has shown that the exhibitors and visitors of PETpoint will be in the best hands with Messe München, explained Alexander Büchler, founder of PETpoint and Managing Director of hbmedia. As a trade publisher and exclusive information partner for the PET industry, hbmedia will remain closely connected with PETpoint in terms of content. By stepping back from cyclical trade-fair operations, we will be able to develop new information offers in our core business of publishing for our global readership in industry. This will give our advertising partners even more attractive access to their target groups.
The take-over of PETpoint by Messe München does not of course mean the end of the cooperation between drinktec and hbmedia. The Heidelberg-based publishing house and its trade magazine PETplanet Insider will in future, too, be putting together a professional information offer for drinktec in the form of an extensive accompanying programme on the subject of PET. While Messe München will be looking after the needs of exhibitors in PETpoint from acquisition through to final processing.
Further cooperation between hbmedia and Messe München
In addition Messe München and hbmedia will be continuing to work together on the 3rd drink technology India from 18 to 20 November 2010 in Mumbai. The event is taking place for the first time in the Bombay Exhibition Centre, in conjunction with International PackTech India, whose organiser is Messe Düsseldorf.
About PETpoint
The idea for PETpoint was developed at the turn of the millennium by hbmedia GmbH of Heidelberg. For this publisher of the international trade magazine PETplanet Insider, PETpoint was a way of extending its information offer of print and online media and conferences to include an exhibition. It started in 2002 in the form of an independent event organised by hbmedia in Essen – held in parallel with the packaging trade fair interpack in Düsseldorf. The focus on PET bottles for applications in the beverages industry led hbmedia to a cooperation with Messe München, the organiser of drinktec, the World’s Leading Trade Fair for Beverage and Liquid Food Technology. In 2005 PETpoint became an integral part of drinktec. Since then PETpoint has benefited from the proximity to its main customers, the beverage fillers.
PET is booming
PET (polyethylene terephthalate) quickly became the most important packaging material for containers of beverages and liquid foods. In 2009 it is estimated that for the first time ever the number of PET bottles used worldwide for filling beverages will surpass 400,000,000,000 (400 billion!) – that´s around one third of all beverage packaging units. Research into alternative plastics is continuing apace, but so far there is no end in sight to the boom in PET.
About drinktec
drinktec is the world’s leading trade fair for beverage and liquid food technology. It is the most important trade fair for the sector. Manufacturers and suppliers from all over the world – global companies and SMEs alike – meet up here with all the key producers and retailers of beverages and liquid food products. Within the sector drinktec is regarded as the number one platform for launching new products on the world market. The fact that the entire production chain is represented at drinktec emphasises the fair´s role as the world´s leading trade fair for the sector. Manufacturers come along to present the latest technology for producing, filling and packaging beverages of all kinds, as well as liquid food – including raw materials and logistics solutions. A special feature of drinktec is that entire machinery systems and plant are set up here and demonstrated in action – this kind of a display is unique to drinktec. drinktec 2009, which took place at the New Munich Trade Fair Centre from 14 to 19 September 2009, attracted 1,402 exhibitors from around 72 countries. On the six days of the fair approximately 60,000 trade visitors attended, over 33,000 of them from abroad.
| Messe München GmbH Pressereferat drinktec Johannes Manger und Christina Maier Tel. (+49 89) 949-20630, Fax (+49 89) 949-20689 Johannes.Manger@messe-muenchen.de Christina.Maier@messe-muenchen.de |
