Partner Interview: Petainer

What does Petainer do and what is your role in the company?

Petainer is a specialist PET packaging production company and industry leader in manufacturing one-way kegs, one-way preforms & bottles and refillable PET bottles with recycled content. We have over thirty-five years of technical experience in polymer containers and serve markets around the world, including Europe, Russia, North and South America and Asia. We set the benchmark in sustainable high-performance container packaging in the beverage industry: from beer, cider and wine to cold brew coffee, kombucha and many more. Our diverse solutions for both draught and bottled beverages are designed to grow producers’ business and reduce their carbon footprint.

Since when have you been following the Kombucha market and why?

We started supplying kegs to kombucha producers four years ago in the US. They needed to get into the draught market to provide outlets such as coffee houses, bars, restaurants, grocery and convenience stores with growler filling stations.

In the beginning, kombucha brewers didn’t have steel keg fleets or equipment to wash and sterilise kegs and steel kegs didn’t seem suitable for an essential reason. The SCOBY is tough to remove: it builds up, stopping valves opening on a returned steel keg. Therefore, using a shared keg system, where steel returnable kegs are shared with producers of other products such as beer and wine, highly increases the risk of contamination. It’s no secret that kombucha is having a craft beer-like boom in the beverage industry, and Petainer’s technical experience in the draught market is already valued by kombucha brands around the world. “Petainer Kegs are always available, shipped quickly and have been very well-received by our awesome customers who are now serving UpDog Kombucha on tap!”, says Olivia Wolff, Co-Founder of UpDog Kombucha.

What role does your business want to play in the Kombucha market with its products?

Kombucha is often packaged in glass bottles. However, there has been a growing need for kegged Kombucha in the HORECA market, where the drink is served on tap. We can support Kombucha producers when entering new draught markets. Petainer kegs are a low-cost alternative to traditional steel kegs because they offer significant supply chain benefits, helping brands overcome the challenges of long distances as well as saving the cost of transporting empty kegs back to the producer. They also allow them to save on labour costs since you don’t need to wash them and use chemicals. One of the advantages of using one-way PET kegs is that kombucha producers can have a clean fill every time. Our kegs are supplied ready to fill and pre-purged with nitrogen. There is no need for washing or sanitisation, which eliminates the equipment and utility costs needed with steel – one steel keg requires 11 litres of water and energy to heat it! Petainer’s universal compatibility lowers barriers to entry for draught products. Our kegs can be used with universal coupling systems (A, G, S & D), so brands know their product can be dispensed anywhere in the world. Our kegs are just 10% the weight of a traditional steel keg, making handling at filling and dispense easier. Once empty, our kegs can be easily disassembled for recycling. Some of our kombucha customers are reusing the top and bottom chimes of our Hybrid keg, which is appealing to the ethos of environmentally and sustainability-conscious consumers. For kombucha, it’s the product to use!

What are your expectations in exhibiting at the Kombucha Summit?

Petainer will host workshops during the event to present the advantages of using our one-way kegs for kombucha on tap and a practical demonstration on how to fill and dispense the beverage with our kegs. We hope that this will open new possibilities and markets for the participants. We are looking forward to getting to know the European kombucha market a little better, meeting producers, gathering insights and industry trends.

What’s the best way for Kombucha brewers to get in touch with you?

Kombucha brewers can visit our website (www.petainer.com), and if they have any questions regarding our products, send an email to enquiries@petainer.com. We are also on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Youtube.

Thanks a lot to Petainer and we're looking forward to welcoming them for Kombucha Summit in October! Stay tuned for more interviews in the coming days and weeks!

For those of you interested in participating in October: You can purchase tickets here and in case you have any questions, comments or suggestions, ping us any time at info@kombuchasummit.com or on Instagram.