Industry consolidation and changes in distribution channels are the driving forces behind the “new” InterBev that’s scheduled for Dec. 4 to 6 at the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. The show is now produced by Reed Exhibition Cos. (Norwalk, CT), though the official sponsor is the National Soft Drink Assn.
Reed is “cultivating relationships” with other industry groups to broaden the show to appeal to producers of beverages other than soft drinks, says Howard Friedman, Reed vice president. He says that both exhibitors and attendees want “an event that appeals to producers, distributors, wholesalers, importers/exporters, suppliers and retailers across multiple beverage markets.”
While the show expects to appeal to more segments in the market stream, it also plans to attract producers of beer, water, coffee, tea, wine, liquor, milk, nutraceuticals and sports/new-age drinks, as well as soft drinks. “We intend to deliver buying teams comprised of multiple job titles so that buying companies can compare products to make better and faster purchasing decisions,” Friedman says.
Currently, Reed says it expects to have more than 600 exhibitors in New Orleans. A complete list of packaging-related companies that will exhibit follows this preview. Reed hasn’t identified a target number of attendees at press time.
Conferences, too
“This year’s conference will be hard to resist,” predicts Cheryl Yeager, InterBev conference manager at Reed.
While the conference topics range from management to product development, packaging, marketing and supply chain management will all figure prominently. In all, 50 separate sessions will provide more than 100 hours of lectures, workshops and panel discussions, Yeager says. The conference program, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, is free to all registered InterBev attendees.
The keynote address will be delivered by John R. Alm, president and COO of Coca-Cola Enterprises, at 9 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 4. “We are very excited to have John Alm share his insight with the beverage industry. He is a seasoned beverage-bottling executive whose knowledge and expertise are well respected in the industry,” notes Friedman. Coca-Cola Enterprises is the world’s largest producer and marketer of nonalcoholic beverages, accounting for 74% of The Coca-Cola Company’s volume in bottles and cans in the U.S.
Many of the conference sessions are product oriented. Dr. Kathryn Boor of The Cornell Institute of Food Science will address Sanitation issues in the dairy world. Another educator, Charles Bamforth of the University of California, will cover Beer: A proud past and promising future.
For packers of bottled waters, Jonathan Hall of Bottled Water News and The Hall Water Report, will describe H2O on the go: Beverage segment or new global category.
The focus will be on packaging when Jim Peters, editor-in-chief of BrandPackaging, covers Packaging that sells: Five critical steps to success. A more complete look at the full conference program is available at the InterBev Web site, www.interbev.com. Registration can be done online, as well.
