IoT for the perfect pint

All around the world, one of life’s many pleasures is enjoying an ice-cold beer at the local watering hole. However, very few are aware of the logistical complexities that come into delivering and serving the perfect pint.

In most markets, draught beer is delivered to bars and restaurants in kegs –stainless steel containers with a self-closing valve that allows carbon dioxide to push the beer out of a tap.  

Sounds simple enough, but the distribution and handling process of draught beer is complex because kegs are costly reusable containers that are re-collected by beer distributors to be cleaned and re-filled with beer. 

A beery challenge

Historically, around 10% of beer kegs go missing every year, and this loss of kegs comes at a huge cost to brewing companies.  Sometimes bad storage conditions and other mitigating variables lead to beer being wasted and/or contaminated. 

IoT saves the pint

Up to a few years ago, beer manufacturers had no choice but to absorb the expense of losing 10% of their kegs fleet. Recently, however, an IoT solution that involves the simple attachment of smart sensors to beer kegs was developed. Smart tracking sensors provide beer manufacturers with complete, real-time, visibility of all their kegs, at any time, and in any location, no matter how remote. This solution not only led to a significant reduction in the loss of kegs but also pushed the boundaries to help solve the next challenge – monitoring the conditions inside the keg.

Since the beer inside the keg is more valuable than the keg itself, it is important for beer manufacturers not only to be able to monitor the location of the kegs but also to have full visibility of the conditions inside them.

An extension of the existing keg tracking IoT solution now gives real-time visibility of the volume inside a keg, its temperature and overall conditions. 

Smart devices, placed inside the kegs, collect real-time information as kegs travel along the supply chain, transmitting this data to the brewery’s IoT software platform.  The real-time data from inside the kegs has proven to be a game-changer for the brewing industry by ensuring that catering establishments never run out of beer and that they serve pints in the optimum condition.

By using the latest in IoT and mobile telecommunications breweries can benefit from in-depth insights, empowering them to make highly informed decisions to optimise their efficacy, increase productivity, and reduce their carbon footprint.

Offered by melita.io, this solution helps breweries reduce their losses and costs, as well as increase their sales by automatically triggering re-orders when keg volumes reach a certain low. Breweries can also keep an eye on the conditions that the beer is in inside the kegs. This includes the beers’ life cycle, and the possibility of alerting bars and restaurants should the beer expire or become contaminated or unsalvable. This ensures that the end customer, is always served good quality beer in optimum conditions.

The overall IoT solution from melita.io reduces waste both in terms of kegs being lost as well as in beer going bad. It also contributes to significantly reduce a brewery’s carbon footprint by optimising physical delivery routes. Ultimately it helps to increase brand preference and loyalty due to the product always reaching the end customer in the best conditions.

To learn more about how melita.io can help your business take advantage of the power of the Internet of Things, contact us.