Tag Archives: Food & Beverage

New Challenges Faced by the Brewing Industry

The brewing industry has recently undergone several significant changes. The craft beer market has exploded and, the average beer drinker has developed more sophisticated tastes, opting for higher quality beers. Brewers are looking to expand their business by exporting their product to distant consumers. All the while, the cost of energy, water, and hops  has increased putting breweries bottom line profits at risk. In order to navigate these market shifts, stbreweries must adapt their method of production in order to create a high-quality product, which prioritises flavour and characteristics to appeal to the sophisticated consumer, whilst reducing process costs and increasing the shelf life of their product in order to stermaintain the products stability- so beer reaches the consumer as fresh as it was when it left the brewery.

So, here’s the question, how can brewers make a better tasting beer, with a longer shelf life all whilst reducing the cost of production?

Innovation is the answer

To overcome these challenges, breweries must look to implement innovative solutions throughout their brewing and packaging processes. Recent years have seen the emergence of technologies which can benefit the flavour, cost and shelf life of beer. However, beer has long been considered a combination of art and science, and some brewers are reluctant to switch from traditional methods of brewing to modern scientific methods. However, an increasing number of breweries from the local craft brewery to the global goliaths are discovering the benefits of modern sterile filtration as a method of microbial stabilisation.

Sterile filtration of beer

The sterile filtration of beer is a method of microbial stabilisation which eliminates unwanted contaminants such as Pediococcus damnosus, Brettanomyces bruxellensis, Lactobacillus lindneri and lactobacillus brevis from beer prior to packaging. The microbial stabilisation process and the subsequent elimination of spoilage organisms greatly increases the shelf-life of beer when compared to beer which has not been treated, enabling brewers to ship their product to consumers at greater distances over longer periods of time.

Brewers have historically used other methods of microbial control such as flash pasteurisation, however, these practices have their limitations. The method of flash pasteurisation involves cooking beer, which has been painstakingly brewed with time and care, up to a temperature over 70oC for a short period of time. This process does denature spoilage organisms within the beer, but also damages the delicate flavour and characteristics of the beer.

Sterile filtration is the gentler alternative to flash pasteurisation. The implementation of sterile filtration eliminates all spoilage micro-organisms but does not alter or damage any of the desired characteristics and flavours the master brewer achieved.

What’s more, sterile filtration has a lower operating cost compared to flash pasteurisation due to the high electrical energy consumption required to heat such large volumes of liquid to 70oC, the consequential water consumption and beer loss experienced when flash pasteurisers deviate from critical flow rate – a common issue for brewers running flash pasteurisation.

To find out more about sterile filtration, sign up to our webinar “Extending Beer Shelf-Life While Reducing Processing Costs” which will be held on the 16th of April.

Thomas Jydby Hedemark, Industry Segment Specialist F&B, Baumer Electric AG

Thomas HedemarkThomas holds a degree of the Tietgen Skolen in International Business. In different management positions he gained extensive experience within the global food and beverage market.

Thomas has particular experience with process sensors used within the brewery and dairy segment.

1. How did you get into the industry?

When I started working as a field Sales Engineer in 2007, the customer base I inherited was mainly within this segment. Around 50% within dairy and brewery applications. My main task, at the time, was to develop our F&B business for process sensors and this was my entrance to the industry.

2. What do you most enjoy about your role?

Working within sales you naturally enjoy the social aspects of the job, for example working with customers on process optimization and general problem solving. But, also internal communication
with product management on campaigns and future product requirements.

3. What are you looking forward to explaining to the audience?

How they can benefit from using Baumer process sensors within the CIP process.

4. What’s your favourite thing about presenting to a live audience?

I don’t have much experience in presenting live webinars unfortunately. I’m really looking forward to the experience!

5. What one item would you take with you to a desert island?

If only one thing it would be music, closely followed by hammock and knife. But, who would go to a desert island in the first place?

Join Thomas for a discussion on ‘How to Ensure Food Safety While Increasing Overall Equipment Effectiveness‘ in our webinar with Baumer Electric AG. Register now!

Graeme Fuller, Director CAP (Compressed Air and Process Filtration), Donaldson

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Graeme Fuller joined the company in 1986. In his current position as Director CAP EMEA he is responsible for all sales and service activities regarding Compressed Air and Process Filtration in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

 

 

1. What are you looking forward to discussing with the audience?

My colleagues Stefan Loebbert und Dr. Peter Schwarz will explain the recent developments of filtration devices in the Food & Beverage industry. This industry is governed by different regulatory organizations (e. g. FDA or EC regulations), confronting manufacturers, bottlers and plant managers with strict guidelines in respect of processing, purifying and protecting their goods. We help the F & B companies work within the guidelines that are given by offering tailor-made certified filtration solutions. These need to be not only reliable and of high-quality, but also strictly cost-effective. Besides dealing with the challenge of a fast-growing product range and the demands for high service quality while driving down operating costs, the F & B manufacturers seek filtration applications that meet the current FDA or EC regulations. You could say that these three areas of requirements distinguish F & B from other industries. And this is where Donaldson comes into play enabling F & B customers to achieve the right combination of market standards, cost pressure and legal compliance.

2. Why did you choose the F & B industry?

The F & B market is developing at high speed and continually evolving. It keeps constantly re-inventing itself, trying to satisfy emerging trends in the convenience product market, for example. A tough competition, shorter product life-cycles and a growing product variety obviously breed innovation, impacting the suppliers and their mind-set for innovation and creativity as well. In combination with a fierce regulatory framework, this leads to higher benchmarks for successful processing and filtration applications. Luckily Donaldson has built a strong team of engineers and researchers that have become very adaptive and know how to respond to the changing dynamics in the market.

3. Why did you decide to do a webinar?

As a multi-national corporation, we are very much involved into webcasts and web conferences. So inviting to a webinar appears as the next logical step, allowing us to connect with everyone around the world without having them to come to a certain place. And I think that a webinar gives more personal credibility to our ideas. As it brings people together sharing the same interests but exchanging different opinions, a webinar can broaden everyone’s horizon. So it is not only the audience that hopefully will take away our key messages, but also us that can learn from their feedback and real-time comments.

4. How do you motivate your team members?

We try to recruit self-motivated people with a good qualification. We then give them the freedom and the responsibility to develop their ideas and thus to contribute to the business success. Both, freedom and responsibility, help to be a motivated team member.

5. What motivates you?

Seeing our motivated team trying to achieve and to exceed the goals – this is what motivates me.

Join Donaldson’s webinar ‘Selection Criteria for Filtration Devices in Food & Beverage‘ on the 3rd September. Register here.