Techniques are presented for the growth of a zeolite coating onto a structured ceramic packing for distillation(Raschig rings). Electron microscopy and powder X-ray diffraction studies show a very high coverage of thesupport with the ZSM-5 structure and show resistance to damage/dissolution during the esterification of aceticacid to methyl acetate using the prepared catalysts. Comparisons are made with other catalysts from theliterature for the same reaction and the material is shown to be significantly better than an equivalent weightof Amberlyst catalyst.