The future for draft beer distribution

Beerin a Box

Carbonate Solutions Ltd is a UK Technology company specialising in carbonating drinks at the point of dispense. Incorporating 20 years research and development Carbonate Solutions has developed a carbonation system, draftstream®.

Unlike other carbonation systems, draftstream® provides ideal conditions to replicate the CO2 retention and bubble size experienced from bottles and kegged alternatives.

draftstream® also allows a range of new drinks to be brought to the on-trade market including draft sparkling wines and pre-mix cocktails, beers, ciders and stouts. www.carbonatesolutions.com

• Huge inventories of expensive aluminium or stainless kegs are used in the logistics system with high losses due to theft for scrap, each keg costs €120 and it requires 8 in the supply chain for every 1 in use (for long distance export this averages 12). Keg Aware estimate that missing kegs cost the industry £50m (€70m) per annum in the UK.

• Kegs are heavy and asymmetric (i.e. don’t pack efficiently) so their transportation costs are high, both monetary and environmentally. An empty 50 litre keg weighs 13Kg and needs returning for cleaning and refill.

• Sterilisation on return comes at a high environmental price, due to large quantities of water and chemicals.

• Keg volume is typically 50 litres which means that in lower throughput bars, fresh product can be a problem. Once broached a keg needs using up within 2-3 weeks.

Lightweight one trip kegs have been developed, however they are still asymmetric and are relatively expensive at circa €12 for 30 litre vessel. Further still, they are not suitable for stouts and their ability to retain fresh product and prevent air ingress is poorer than steel kegs.

Existing Industry Inefficiencies:

The future for draft beer distribution

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Using draftstream® and Carbonate Solutions de-gassing technology, beer can now be distributed via one-way light weight Bag-in-Box distribution systems.

This enables stackable 20 litre Beer-in-Boxes, improving stock management, reduces

wastage and eradicates keg theft whilst removing the need for high numbers of

kegs in the supply chain and sterilisation on return. In particular Beer-in-box also

opens up export markets where kegs are not a viable option due to the added

expense of returning kegs.

Carbonate Solutions has a strategic partnership in place with Rapak part of DS

Smith Group. DS Smith operates out of 34 countries worldwide with a turnover

of some £4bn. DS Smith are industry leaders in Bag in Box technology which is

already a well-established system for transporting liquids. It is estimated in 2014

some 550 million bags were used across Europe with a Global market of some

1.2bn packages each year. Now there is the technology for re-gassing beer on retail

premises this packaging solution can be exploited to the full.

The advanced process of de-gassing the beer at the brewery prior to packing in no

way adjusts any of the flavours or alcohol content of the beer thereby making the

end product identical to the kegged alternative. The draftstream® system has also

been designed to be fully compatible with industry standard cooling equipment,

python lines and beverage pumps making the installation a relatively straight

forward exercise.

Cutting-edge technology and packaging

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The future for draft beer distribution

The future proof solution:

The beer is brewed, fermented and stored as usual

Before filling the CO2 content is reduced to no more than 1g per litre

The beer is filled into 20 litre aseptic bags.

The boxes are palletised, maximising 1,200 litres per pallet

The beer is linked to the python line and carbonated prior to dispense via draftstream®

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• Reducing the amount of capital tied up in packaging for the industry. At present 8 million kegs at €120 per keg represents €960m tied up in working capital in the UK supply chain alone

• Light weight, non-pressurised packaging • Reducing the amount of space required to store containers in the supply chain• 30% more beer can be transported on a pallet with beer in a box against kegs.• Potential to save €70m per year of lost kegs.• Longer shelf life for products and elimination of waste• Reduction of problems caused by lack of availability of kegs during seasonal peaks• Eliminates cleaning and sterilisation costs on returned containers• A 20 litre Bag in Box costs only €2.5 each

• 100% recyclable Bag-in-Boxes can be locally disposed of via recycling (plastic and cardboard) rather than having to be returned to the brewery

• Eliminates high water used in cleaning kegs• Light weight reducing carbon footprint in transportation. • The EU Health & Safety regulations state a keg above 30 litres should not be handled by a

single person. The 20 litre box is light enough to be readily handled by most able bodied staff.• Usage of 20 litre Beer-in-box will allow containers to be rotated more often and will

prevent wastage.• Significantly reduce the carbon footprint for breweries. Each empty keg returned to

the brewery contains on average 200-300 litres of CO2/Mixed Gas, which is released to atmosphere.

• Less noise pollution. Clanging of kegs on delivery and collection in city centre locations causes regular problems for outlets.

• Carbonating (and nitrogenating where stouts are concerned) at the point of dispense leads to fine blended gas/liquid and the retention of carbonation.

• Smaller volumes will allow sale of beer and cider in bars that do not have space for kegs but still want draft.

• Once the Bag is broached the shelf life is double that of a keg in cellar cooled environments. Un-broached the bag has a shelf life of 9-12 months.

• Gas free beer in the box is a more stable liquid than kegged and therefore less susceptible to effects of temperature fluctuations.

• Nitrogenation available for stouts with ability to easily adjust head size and nitrogen content if required.

High Cost Saving

Environmental

Quality

The future for draft beer distribution

Key advantages of our technology:-

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The future for draft beer distribution

Transport & Packaging

Box Dimensions

385 X 243 X 243 (mm)

Collation: 4 X 3 X 5

Pack Weight: 20.5Kg

Pack Contents: 20 litres

Units/Pallets: 60

TotalPallet Volume:

1,200 litresthe equivalent of 24 X 50 litre kegs

Cellar Storage

efficiencies

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Annual Output: 30,000 hectolitres per annum

1,150 kegs sold per weekKeg Multiplier x10: 11,500 Kegs@€120.00= €1,380,000

Additional Annual Running Costs:Keg Return and Clean: 1,150 kegs per week @€10= €598,000 Keg loss@ 10% = €138,000 Total €736,000

Annual Bag in Box Packaging Costs150,000 units@€2.50= €375,000Annual Running cost of Carbonatorsx 400 units@€250.00= €100,000

Draftstream

Keg

€1,380,000

€475,000

€736,000Additionalrunning costs

CapitalExpenditure

AnnualRunning Cost

Financial Advantages Example

Kegging line Capital Expenditure also

substantially more expensive than bag

in box line

1 TRIP PACKAGING

MORE VOLUME transported in each load

WEIGHT SAVINGS50litre keg weighs 63Kg

BIB equivalent weighs 51Kg

For further information contact:Carbonate Solutions LtdTel: 0118 9326911info@carbonatesolutions.comwww.carbonatesolutions.com