'We want to fire people´s enthusiasm"
 
This year in September, around 70,000 trade visitors will be making their way to drinktec in Munich. Around 2,000 of them will be travelling from South America. To help get them in the mood for their visit, the team of the World Fair for Beverage and Liquid Food Technology went on not one but two presentation tours of the region last November – the first to Brazil, Argentina and Chile, and the second, two weeks later, to Mexico, Venezuela and Peru. The tour of South America is part of a worldwide roadshow intended to inform exhibitors, visitors and representatives of the press, trade associations and the authorities about drinktec. Petra Westphal, Exhibtion Director of drinktec 2009, comments: "Addressing people personally, direct contact with them, is extremely important to us, particularly in far-off countries. We want to make sure that visitors to drinktec really feel we are there for them, and that we take their needs seriously. These tours are not just about communicating facts and figures on drinktec. Just as important is reaching out to people on an emotional level. We want to fire their enthusiasm and spend a good time with them. The aim is for them to look forward to drinktec, to the innovations they will find there and to meeting up with colleagues from all over the world."
 
Making their way to Brazil, Argentina and Chile were Petra Westphal and Richard Clemens, Managing Director of the Fachverband Nahrungsmittel- und Verpackungsmaschinen (Food Processing and Packaging Machinery Association) affiliated within the German Engineering Federation (VDMA). In Brazil two presentations were held – one in the metropolis of São Paulo and the other, an hour´s flight away to the south, in Porto Alegre.Following the presentation in Porto Alegre Westphal and Clemens visited Fruki, one of the largest manufacturers of refreshment drinks in the region, much to the delight of the company boss, Nelson Eggers, who is of German extraction and also speaks very good German. One of his ancestors, Emilio Kirst, set up the company in 1924. The company name Fruki comes from 'Fru' (short for 'frutas', which means fruit in Spanish) and 'ki' (from 'Kirst'). In Buenos Aires, too, the level of interest was high. As previously in São Paulo and Porto Alegre, around 50 guests attended the presentation. Petra Westphal covered drinktec itself, while Richard Clemens talked about technology trends and the global trade in machinery and beverages. The two put on a joint presentation, playing the ball to each other, and alternating as speakers. The presentation was rounded off with a five-minute image film. After the official part, too, Westphal and Clemens were much in demand: they gave interviews, such as in Buenos Aires, when for 90 minutes they answered questions from Ana Maria Galibert, Vice-President of the publishing house 'Publitec Argentina', which produces a range of trade journals.