As a general observation, the number of small, independent beverage processing companies is on the rise across North America. Some of this increase is due to increased numbers of microbreweries, but there is also a trend towards producing healthy beverage options in the forms of naturally flavored sparkling waters and even extremely low sugar and low additive forms of sodas.
These trends have all developed over specific challenges that are also occurring with this uptick in specialized types of production. Understanding the challenges in the beverage processing industry can help small companies and startup businesses focus on the future and not waste time and effort on focusing on products that may already be out of demand by consumers.
Product Quality
A very common issue for startup companies in this industry is consistent quality in their product. This is a significant problem in the carbonated beverage industry where lower quality equipment may be in place that doesn’t provide precise control of system pressure, carbonation levels, and control through the entire process. Consumers simply have too many choices to go back to brand if they have an experience of opening up a beverage that is flat or off-tasting due to processing, carbonation or production inconsistencies.
Ensuring quality equipment that is going to provide these precise levels of control will be essential in branding in markets that may be heavily saturated with both new products as well as existing products.
Equipment and Process Quality
Increasing consumer pressure to ensure public safety and provide regulations for cleaning and maintaining of sanitary production equipment and processes will always be a challenge for companies.
Time spent in cleaning systems is downtime for production, so choosing beverage processing and carbonation systems that can be easily integrated into cleaning protocols will become an essential consideration. New systems on the market are designed to be very system-friendly and limit the need for maintenance, which in turn provides longer uptime for production.
