LUEVEN, Belgium — The Global Innovation and Technology Centre (GITC) at AB InBev has developed a one-way, polymer-keg system, called PureDraught, that will keep beer fresh for longer and reduce restaurants’ carbon footprints.
“PureDraught is a technology that has the potential to transform the consumer experience when enjoying draught beer — superior quality, less carbon footprint and more variety of beers on tap,” says Rodrigo Sozo, vice-president of AB InBev, GITEC. “This breakthrough is the result of the vision, passion, resilience and knowledge of our GITEC team — they’re our greatest asset and are obsessed with transforming dreams into reality.”
Traditional steel kegs present a number of financial and environmental issues for restaurant owners, even on a local scale. When shipping internationally, these issues increase because shipping rates via an ocean vessel are doubled when the keg needs to be returned, which also adds to their global carbon footprint. Additionally, once a steel keg is tapped, the beer’s optimal freshness expires after seven to 10 days.
With PureDraght, the GITC has created a custom-moulded, double-walled, bottle-in-bottle, polymer keg that allows air or gas to be fed into the outer bottle, which keeps its shape and pushes the beer out of the inner bottle. The air or dispensed gas won’t be able to touch the beer and allows the product to remain fresh for 30 days after being tapped.
PureDraught kegs also come in smaller sizes (6 L, 12 L and 18 L) to allow for more flexibility and less wasted product. The kegs can also be stored and dispensed upright or on their sides.
“For a consumer, PureDraught means a fresh beer experience for up to four-times longer, since the first time air or gas touches the beer is when it’s poured into their glass,” says Daniel Ingram, global director of Draught Capabilities at AB InBev. “For bar or restaurant owners, PureDraught means no keg deposits, less waste, right-sized products for beers with slower turnover, more efficient storage and no reverse logistics of returning a keg — they can simply put the used kegs in their local recycling bin, reducing the carbon footprint of the process considerably.”
PureDraught is currently used with AB InBev brands, such as Stella Artois, in more than six countries, including the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, China, Italy and South Korea. This spring, it also debuted in Colombia, additional areas in Europe, Africa and Japan. Source: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190617005244/en
