Separator's Digest 2004/1 - GEA Westfalia Separator Group

The rate of growth is one of thehighest in the world. In 2003,beer consumption increased byaround six percent to a total of 75.5million hl, compared with an increaseof just two percent on the Europeanmarket. This is consistent with theexpectation of the Ministry for EconomicDevelopment and Trade, accordingto which gross domestic product isexpected to expand by 5.9 %.No longer “Do you have anybeer?” The question is now:“What type?”It is a long time ago that beer used tobe in short supply and was used as asubstitute currency; it is also a long timeago that beer used to be merely distributedby breweries and consumedimmediately. The question nowadays isno longer “Do you have any beer?”; insteadthe question is “What type?” Today,the influence of western Europe isone of the factors which means thateverybody has to focus to a much greaterextent on quality and maintainingit. It is also necessary to work efficientlyand cost-effectively to cope with thepressure posed by the competition. Anycompany that does not keep up withthe latest production methods will experienceproblems.Pioneering role of BaltikaThe brewing industry in Russia experienceda veritable boom during the past decade.Since Perestroika, the largest country inthe world has become the fifth largest beermarket. Sales figures and revenues in recentyears have confirmed this trend.Quality is also important for the filtrationand clarification of beers. The Russianmarket leader BBH Group with itsmain brewery Baltika in Sankt-Petersburg,which alone produces 12 millionhl beer per year, has successfully positioneditself in this area. Baltika had installedseveral clarifiers upstream of thefilter. In the year 2000, the brewery triedWestfalia Separator for the first time.An HSA 200 was to be used as a singleseparator to replace the existing machines,and was simultaneously expectedto meet the stringent requirements interms of optimum clarifying efficiency,minimum oxygen absorption and considerablylonger filter life. The aim was tomeet maximum quality criteria and si-Separator´s World15Separator´s Digest 1/2004