To the East and back with the expedition vehicle

Germany				8 November: Germany/Nuremberg The “Go to Brau Beviale“ camper arrived safely back at the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg from its promotion tour after driving 18,000 km through Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Romania, Hungary, where the team visited 30 companies of the beverage industry. Back in Nuremberg, Alexander Büchler (PETplanet, very right) was greeted by (from left to right) Gert Erhardt (Industrievertretungen), Volker Kronseder (VDMA-Fachverband Nahrungsmittelmaschinen und Verpackungsmaschinen), Gerhard Ilgenfritz (Private Brauereien Bayern), Rolf Keller (NürnbergMesse), Dr. Detlef Groß (Vereinigung Alkoholfreie Getränke-Industrie) und Dr. Werner Gloßner (Private Brauereien Bayern).
Serbia				2 November: Serbia/Belgrade The “Go to Brau Beviale” camper arrives in Belgrade/Serbia in dense fog. The first stop is at Fruvita, a producer of fruit juice, where its employees greet the German visitors happily (picture). Fruvita supplies its liquid vitamine booster to Serbia and its neighboring countries. Two more visits in Belgrade will go to Coca Cola und Energopet, a preform producer.
Turkey				29 October: Turkey/Istanbul Today is Turkey’s National Holiday in commemoration of the formation of the Republic declared by Atatürk in 1923. This visit takes us to Has Plastik, one of the leading producers of caps with more than three decades of experience. Their caps are in demand in over forty countries. Despite the National Holiday, Ayhan Haspalylan, president, and Murat Aner, technical director of Has Plastik, welcome the “Go to Brau Beviale” camper on the company’s premises. They supply us with a variety of caps as exhibits for the booth at Brau Beviale and promise to stop by in person as well.
Turkey				25 October: Back to Turkey According to plan, a new driver took over the wheel of the “Go to Brau Beviale” camper after three weeks: Alexander Büchler is in charge of the second part of the tour, which ends accurately timed on 8 November at the Exhibition Center Nuremberg – just in time for the opening ceremony of Brau Beviale on 9 November. Büchler’s first stop takes him to the preform producer Köksan, possibly one of the biggest ones in Turkey. Köksan, which is currently building its own polymerisation facility, is a family-run business of three generations. Its current CEO is Murat Kögpglu, shown here proudly presenting the foundation of the new PET polymerisation facility.
Armenia				19 October: Armenia/Yerevan Third and last visit to a firm in Yerevan – to preform manufacturer Hytex Plastic. With an annual capacity of 140 million preforms, Hytex makes sure that the most popular international carbonated drinks can also be bottled in Armenia. The difficult political situation in the region makes exports almost impossible. Around midday, the “Go to Brau Beviale” truck then sets off for Azerbaijan to meet the Eurovision Song Contest winners Ell & Nikki in Baku.
Armenia				17–18 October: Armenia/Yerevan Finally made it: I’ve crossed the Caucasus – and arrive in the Armenian capital. Here there are two firms to visit. The factory of one manufacturer of world-renowned carbonated drinks produces and bottles effectively using the latest German technology (the happy Caucasus conqueror Kai Krüger (left) – always perfectly dressed). This is followed by a visit to the family company Grom LLC, which produces PET bottles that are filled mainly with soaps and shampoos. A delicious Armenian meal at the invitation of the company owner rounds off this day for the exhausted driver of the “Go to Brau Beviale Truck” and leaves him absolutely happy and deeply impressed by Armenian hospitality.
Armenia Georgia				15–16 October: across the Caucasus The tour continues from the Turkish Black Sea coast in the direction of Yerevan, the capital of Armenia – across the Caucasus Mountains. The picturesque scenery with snow-covered peaks in Georgia is overwhelming. The mountain passes are a great challenge for drivers and the “Go to Brau Beviale” truck.
Bulgaria				9–12 October: tour stop in Plovdiv/Bulgaria “Always in motion” is the motto of index-6, a machinery manufacturer from Plovdiv in Bulgaria. Plovdiv has some 400,000 inhabitants and is located approx. 150km from the capital Sofia. Index-6 was founded by a group of engineers in 1990 and today manufactures packaging machinery for beverages, food and the non-food segment. The company’s machines are in demand on three continents.
Slovenia				5 October: tour stop in Mirna/Slovenia Dana has produced drinks in Mirna/Slovenia for 60 years. From a small spirits distillery at the start of the 1950s, the company has grown into a large international supplier with some 100 employees. Besides premium spirits, Dana now produces drinks as varied as soft drinks, juices, syrups or sports drinks and bottles water from its own spring. The drinks are packed in PET, glass and cartons.
Germany				3 October: the BrauBeviale promotion tour starts from the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg The tour organized by the PETplanet Insider magazine (photo shows Kay Krüger) takes in the key markets of Eastern Europe. PET bottlers will be visited, interviewed and photographed along the way in countries such as Bulgaria, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Romania and Hungary, and typical PET bottles collected from the various countries for subsequent presentation at the exhibition. The expedition vehicle is expected back in Nürnberg the day before Brau Beviale opens. Information about other tour stops will be available here.