Fizz in KIngdom's off-trade volume

Soft-drink sales expected to grow 18 per cent in 2016

Thailand's soft drink off-trade volume is expected to soar over four years, thanks to higher demand, greater concern for health and rising competitiveness, a study by the Germany Food Processing and Packaging Machinery Association (VDMA) shows.

Packaging, including bottles and plastic packaging, advertising and machinery imports will also surge.

The association reports that the Thai soft drink off-trade market, which consists mainly of sales by modern traders and retail shops, will grow by 18.1 per cent to 5.31 billion litres in 2016 from 4.5 billion litres currently. The industry in other emerging nations will also grow significantly - by 33.4 per cent in China, 26.8 per cent in Indonesia and 25.2 per cent in Brazil - for the same reasons.

Herrn Clemens, a director of VDMA, pointed out yesterday that tea will show the highest growth at 66.6 per cent in five years because of greater competitiveness in the market, followed by fruit and vegetable juice by 24.1 per cent and bottled water by 15.3 per cent, as more people prefer healthy drinks.

The carbonated market will expand by 13.3 per cent and the sport and energy drink market by 13.8 per cent.

The alcoholic beverage off-trade volume is projected to increase by 7.5 per cent through 2016, while beer will grow by 6.8 per cent and drinking milk products by 18.6 per cent.

The beverage industry, together with the process and machinery industry for beverages and food, is a standout because of the growing global population and worldwide economic expansion.

From 2002-11, world trade in beverage and food machinery increased by 50 per cent to ?30 billion. Hardly any other segments of the engineering industry can boast a similar dynamic.

The VDMA study also showed that the industry's growth would shift from Western countries to Asia. Before 2011, 55-60 per cent of the world's trade in process and packaging machinery for the beverage and food industry was with European markets, but since then, the European market's share has dropped to 43 per cent.

The Asian market has picked up the slack, while Latin America, Africa and the Middle East are also gaining in importance.

Today, Asia, Latin America and Africa/ Middle East originate more than 50 per cent of beverage demand and more than 44 per cent of machinery demand worldwide.

Drinktec 2013, the world's largest platform showcasing beverages and machinery, will be held from September 16-20 in Munich.

The event is expected to draw more than 1,500 exhibitors and 60,000-65,000 visitors from 170 countries worldwide. More than half of the visitors are expected to come from Asian countries.