Page 14 - AMEFT Journal 2021-2

BEVERAGES
Cream Bell and Tropicana get same SIDEL PET packaging line
For the first time in India, Varun Be- verages, a part of RJ Corp Group, is commercializing its liquid dairy pro- ducts (LDP) in PET bottling.
Varun Beverages Ltd is one of the largest franchises for PepsiCo Inc. glo- bally, and it has installed Sidel’s Asep- tic CombiPredisTM in its newly establis- hed plant in Punjab, India.
This pivotal project aims to ex- pand PET bottling capacity and provide production flexibility for the private label milk brand Cream Bell as well as Pepsi’s Tropicana jui- ce range.
Since the early nineties, the priva- tely-owned Indian company RJ Corp has made itself a multinational power- house with thriving businesses in be- verages, fast food restaurants, retail, ice cream, dairy products, healthcare, and education. Through its operating company Varun Beverages Ltd., the group currently holds 36 plants in the Indian subcontinent and Africa produ- cing carbonated soft drinks, water, and hot-fill juices as well as LDP.
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When production flexibility matters
With Indian consumers looking more and more for nutritional be- verages, the market keeps shifting towards so-called “better-for-you” drinks. To match up the growing de- mands, RJ Corp decided to diversify its portfolio and put more emphasis on its 100% juices with pulp and ultra-high temperature (UHT) LDP, thus gaining more production flexibility to switch product categories easily. “Managing both juices and dairy products on the same PET packaging line flexibly was essential for us, and we could make it happen only by producing in aseptic technology. High-level food safety and hygiene standards were must-have features to answer Pepsi’s demanding quality protocol as well as to pass in- ternal and external validations,” says R.J.S. Bagga, Director Technical & Ope- rations at RJ Corp.
To face these challenges, RJ Corp decided to go with Sidel’s Aseptic CombiPredis, including dry preform
sterilization. They were convinced that it is a very safe and easy-to-ope- rate solution while visiting a French co-packer that has used and trusted this technology to handle both juices and milk for more than 10 years. This technology, approved by the FDA for low-acid production since 2017, al- lows the beverage producer to switch easily and safely between four UHT milk flavors (white UHT milk, coffee, chocolate, and mango) and various kinds of juice recipes (i.e. orange de- light & 100% orange juice with pulp, mixed fruit delight, and 100% mixed fruit juice, guava, apple delight and 100% apple juice, and lychee delight) on the same line. This represents a major turning point for the companies in India, which were previously produ- cing juices in PET bottles with the hot- fill process and milk in cartons.
200+ hrs continuous production
The investment in Sidel’s Aseptic CombiPredis marks two major achie- vements for RJ Corp in India: not only
(Source: SIDEL)
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