We’re looking forward to attending DrinkTec next week. Billed as the world’s leading trade fair for the beverage and liquid food industry, DrinkTec will be home to 1600 exhibitors and 70,000 visitors between 11 and 15 September. Occupying 15 exhibition halls at Neue Messe München in Munich the show is vast but here we list some of the key attractions not to miss.

1. The DrinkTec Forum
Held in Hall A2 at stand 250, the DrinkTec Forum will take place on all five days of the show and will focus on key issues that will affect the future of the drinks and liquid food industries. Visitors can hear from and question leading independent experts about new research, case studies and pioneering new ideas relating to everything from production processes to new technologies developed by academia. The Forum is free to attend and all presentations will be translated simultaneously into English and German.

2. Daily networking & Lectures at place2beer
Originally known as the brewers meeting point, place2beer is a place to interact with fellow visitors and try beers from all around the world. Apart from beer and networking, place2beer will also be host to an exciting programme of lectures put together in partnership with the magazine Beverage Daily. The lecture series will include presentations from successful brewers who tell their stories, start-ups with innovative ideas for new beers and panel discussions with a host of industry figures.

3. The World Beverage Innovation Awards
The World Beverage Innovation Awards are designed to celebrate excellence and innovation across every category of the global beverage industry. There are no less than 26 categories ranging from best product to packaging and marketing, and the award winners will be announced on stand 250 in Hall A2 at 4pm on 14 September.

4. The European Beer Star Awards
As Munich is the considered to be Germany’s beer capital it seems only right that DrinkTec will host the European Beer Star awards on 12 September to honour the beers with the best character and flavour. The awards recognise the three best beers in 60 different categories which include internationally renowned beer types such as pilsner and lager as well as specialties such as India Pale Ale, Belgian Dubbel and Weizenbock. And if you visit Hall B1, you will even get the chance to play your part in the selection of the gold medal winner in the award category “Consumers’ Favourite”.

5. And finally...
Don’t forget to visit us on stand C1. 256! Our team will be on hand to help you with your latest project specification, give guidance on a range of topics including the pre-requisites for high performance hygienically design drainage, and talk to you about the findings of our research projects into hygienic design and cleanability, and the performance of different floor-drainage connections. We hope to see you there and look forward to helping you to put hygiene first.

Detailed information about ACO researches are available at www.aco-buildingdrainage.com/research