About 300 brewing experts from Southeast Asia, Europe and America attended the 6th Bangkok Brewing Conference, which took place from 9 to 11 June 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand. A highlight this year was the excursion to Khmer Beverages in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The event was jointly organized by the Thailand Beer Industry Guild (TBIG) and VLB Berlin.
In total, participants from 20 nations used the Bangkok Brewing Conference as a platform for exchanging experiences, learning and networking. The general headline of this year was “D-ERA: Disrupt / Digital / Diversify / Development”. Focus of the conference were trends, new products and the challenges for production, filling and packaging caused by steadily growing product portfolios, the rapid development of digitalization and changing consumer expectations (“I want it now!”). On the one hand, innovations are driven partly by rediscovering of traditional brewing techniques, on the other hand, however, artificial intelligence and digitalization are also swapping massively into the brewing and beverage business.
A special highlight this year was the technical visit to the newly enlarged brewery of Khmer Beverages in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on the first conference day. Khmer Beverages, a subsidiary of the Cambodian Chip Mong Group, was founded 10 years ago as a 100 % Cambodian brewery. Meanwhile, it expanded its capacities to an annual production volume of 7 mio hl beer and soft drinks.
The conference was completed by an impressive evening at the historic Lhong 1919 site, located at the banks of the Chao Praya River in Bangkok. The Brewing Conference Bangkok was supported by Krones, Ecolab, Pentair, Sidel and Ziemann Holvrieka. Additional support came from Boon Rawd Brewery, Khmer Beverages and other companies.
The next Bangkok Brewing Conference is scheduled for June 2021.
---> Chronology: Bangkok Brewing Conference 2007-2019
