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2 Chemical Technology • November/December 2016
Festo recently hosted a series of whisky tastings on a na-
tional scale. Festo partnered with a professional whis-
ky tasting company called The Whisky Rebellion. The
specialists imported four types of Scottish single malts for
the occasion and supplied whisky experts for themain event.
Each event was backed up by a strong Festo team pres-
ence. Some of the senior management team from Festo’s
head office who were present included Olaf Mayer-Mader
(Industry Segment Manager: Process Automation), Steward
Mbele (Industry Segment Specialist: Chemicals) and
Kershia Beharie (Marketing Product Manager). They were
all present at each event as was the majority of the local
regional staff.
“The Whisky tastings were a way of reaching our client
base in a direct, one-on-one, fashion, while simultaneously
providing them with valuable information on process auto-
mation and our offerings in that field,” said Steward Mbele.
The tastings took place in Port Elizabeth at the presti-
gious Radisson Blu hotel on the 6th October; in Durban at the
esteemed Hilton hotel on the 14th October; Cape Town at the
Feathers Boutique hotel on the 21st October; and lastly in
Johannesburg at the Festo Head office on the 28th October.
These events formed part of the company’s Process Au-
tomation campaign for the year. Mbele continued: “Festo is
traditionally known for its superior pneumatic components
product range. However, we also offer that same quality in
other fields such as Process Automation. More specifically,
we offer automation components for the chemical, mining,
water and wastewater, pharmaceutical and food and bever-
age industrial segments to name a few. We strongly believe
that our products in these sectors have the capability of
giving our clients the competitive edge.
“We were looking for a fun and unique forum to enhance
our customers’ knowledge on our offerings and whisky tast-
ing was the perfect platform to do this. There’s a great con-
nection between whisky and process automation. Whisky
has a unit operation. It undergoes a multitude of processes
such as malting, mashing, etc.”
In addition to the actual whisky tasting, Festo gave a
short presentation on its Process Automation offering and
showcased a number of physical products and displays.
COVER STORY