Ancient alcoholic fermented beverage such as beer origins may trace back to 10,000 BC in the Neolithic era. Its main ingredients are water, malted barley, yeast, and hops; however, other components may be used to increase its sensory properties and/or the amount of fermentable sugars, which are called adjuncts.
The breakthrough in the history of alcoholic beverages was the invention of the distillation process, which appeared in Mesopotamia around 4000 BC. Even though this process is primarily used in the perfume industry, distillation enables the concentration of alcohol produced by fermentation.
The first marketed soft drinks appeared in the 17th century as a mixture of water and lemon juice sweetened with honey. In 1676 the Compagnie de Limonadiers was formed in Paris and granted a monopoly for the sale of its products. Vendors carried tanks on their backs from which they dispensed cups of lemonade.
The development of pasteurization and other technologies greatly increased the safety of the beverage and allowed it to be marketed over a wider area. Before pasteurization milk consumption could transmit diseases, including cholera, polio, anthrax, scarlet fever, bovine tuberculosis and botulism.
Traditionally, beverages have been packaged in glass containers capped with a natural or plastic cork to limit oxygen intake and preserve the organoleptic quality of the beverage.
The crown cork evolved from the natural cork stopper. Cork stoppers were effective closures but did not meet the need to be applied at speed. The automatic production of glass bottles was perfected in the USA in 1903. This provided bottles with uniform dimensions at the neck that could take a standard closure.
Before bottling was introduced, milk was typically transported in containers which were open to debris and bacterial contamination. Material shortages during World War I helped to launch the use of paper cartons which, along with plastic jugs, remain popular today.
As early as the 1960s, most bottlers were producing beverages through machinery that ran at 150 bottles per minute. As product demand has continued to skyrocket, soft drink manufacturers have shifted to faster machinery.
Since the early 1900s beverage companies have evolved from regional firms that mainly produced goods for local markets, to today’s corporate giants that make products for international markets.
History of beverages processing
