Drinktec and BrauBeviale join forces and create YONTEX

NürnbergMesse and Messe München, the two giants in the world beverage and liquid food market, Messe München and NürnbergMesse, have joined forces to form YONTEX, a joint venture that will enable them to increase their reach and competitive position on the global stage.

This year, the world’s leading trade fairs for the beverage and liquid food industry, drinktec (from Munich) and BrauBeviale (from Nuremberg), will join forces to form a new joint company called YONTEX. Specifically, it will be headquartered in Nuremberg and will include former NürnbergMesse divisional head Rolf M. Keller as CEO. Both events will remain independent, but would use the same umbrella under the YONTEX name to generate synergies and value for customers attending these fairs. Minister Albert Füracker announced his enthusiasm for the collaboration between these two major trade fairs, as the creation of YONTEX will strengthen Bavaria’s leading role in this segment worldwide.

The merger of drinktec and BrauBeviale into one company is the largest merger of two trade fair flagships in Germany to date. Both fairs will be able to continue their individual growth without hindrance, expand their national and international reach in terms of customer contacts and pool their resources for the benefit of their exhibitors and visitors. The CEOs of Messe München and NürnbergMesse agree in their assessments of the new joint venture: “We are seizing a unique opportunity for both exhibition companies to jointly position ourselves and join forces in the global market, even though we will continue to compete with each other as two different exhibition venues in Bavaria.”said Peter Ottmann. CEO NürnbergMesse Group. “We are united by a common goal,” added Messe München’s two CEOs, Reinhard Pfeiffer and Stefan Rummel: “This combination will secure the future of drinktec in Munich and BrauBeviale in Nuremberg. After all, both trade fairs want to successfully defend and expand their strong positions in the highly competitive global environment. Together, they can now raise their brand profiles and offer genuine added value to customers on the basis of synergies.” The German Federal Cartel Office has already approved this cooperative venture in the beverage technology trade fair sector.

The new company YONTEX will be presented for the first time with the BrauBeviale to be held in Nuremberg from November 28 to 30, 2023. Both events will be held as before at their usual venues, both will retain their prestigious brands and well-known contact persons. In addition, they will be held in the same cycles as before: drinktec will be held at the Munich Exhibition Center every four years, the next event will be in 2025, and BrauBeviale will still be held annually at the Nuremberg Exhibition Center as before except for the “drinktec years”. In addition to Munich, drinktec also takes place at two additional locations: an annual event in India (beverage technology India) and a biennial event in China.

For the future, YONTEX has assembled a team of 19 experienced staff, including experienced trade fair professionals from drinktec and BrauBeviale, as well as new recruits. The group is led by Rolf M. Keller as CEO and Petra Westal as Executive Vice President, who was previously a project manager for drinktec. In addition, Andrea Kalrait is the Managing Director of BrauBeviale and Marcus Kosak is the Managing Director of the drinktec Cluster, while Moritz Müller is the Chief Operating Officer.

YONTEX also plans to offer added value for everyone involved in the world of technology fairs, from exhibitors to visitors. This will be made possible by creating a centralized space, ensuring that everyone will have close and direct access to all activities related to these fairs no matter where they are held.

Trade associations serving as honorary sponsors also showed their support for combining the two trade shows as a joint event for the global beverage technology market. Richard Clemens, CEO of the Association for Food Processing and Packaging Machinery, Machinery and Process Equipment of the German machinery and equipment manufacturing association VDMA: “By joining forces, we will not only strengthen, but also expand Bavaria’s position as a hub for the global beverage and liquid food industry.”. said Georg Rittmayer, chairman of the Bavarian private brewers’ association Private Brauereien, who reiterated that “this merger sets the course for a sustainable development of the two most important beer and beverage fairs. “this merger sets the course for a sustainable development of the two most important brewery and beverage trade fairs.”