How robust is your carbon dioxide (CO2) supply chain? An economic, reliable and continuous supply of CO2 is not always certain. An extreme illustration of this was seen last summer during around the time of the FIFA World Cup.
CO2 plant shutdowns, combined with a very hot summer, was a recipe to throw the supply chain completely upside down in Europe for weeks. The CO2 suppliers could not fulfill the increased demand anymore and the shortage became a board issue within days at air gas companies and beverage industry alike.
In most months and even years the supply is without any interruption, on the other hand however we see every year in Europe several CO2 crises emerging. In a shortage event, the bottling plants and breweries try to find last minute alternatives for this key ingredient. The beverage industry has end-to-end supply deals with the CO2 producers and they expect the producers to find other sources to safeguard their production processes. But what happens if the supplier does not have an alternative?
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