Beyond The Headlines: Krones elevates Corona beer in South Africa, Smurfit Kappa sweeps FIA UK awards

21 Jul 2023 --- This week in industry news, Krones added a non-returnable glass line to its Pretoria South African Breweries (SAB) site for Corona beer production. Meanwhile, Smurfit Kappa received numerous awards for its packaging solutions in the UK, and Beontag released its latest range of tags with radio frequency identification (RFID).  

In brief: Investments and partnerships
Krones added a non-returnable glass line to its Pretoria SAB site in South Africa to boost the production of Corona beer. The plant mainly produces the South African beer brand Castle Lite and the Mexican beer Corona, adding up to some 8.5 million hectoliters yearly. The line operates at high speed, filling 100,000 glass bottles per hour. Two lines run in parallel, each with a capacity of 50,000 bottles per hour. This makes the line one of the fastest in South Africa, said Krones.

Huhtamaki announced it would invest in its Paris, Texas facility in the US. The investment consists of an expansion of its manufacturing capacity as well as a consolidation of an external warehouse. The investment into production assets is approximately US$30 million, and the warehouse and manufacturing facility will be leased. Huhtamaki said the investment would significantly increase the North American business segment’s capacity in folding cartons to support the growth of the Foodservice business. Production is expected to begin in Q1 2025.

Smurfit Kappa received 14 awards for its innovative packaging solutions.Transcend Packaging partnered with specialty lubricants manufacturer Klüber. Using Klüberfood’s 4 direct contact vegetable-based technical processing aid to manufacture the paper straws, Transcend will remove all traces of mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons and mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons from the production process, delivering an enhanced straw product to the market. 

In brief: Awards
Smurfit Kappa received 14 awards at this year’s Flexographic Industry Association UK awards. At the ceremony, Smurfit Kappa’s innovative packaging solutions received four gold, four silver and four bronze awards. The winners included eye-catching packs for Patron’s tequila and Kellogg’s Special K.

Borealis created the Borealis Scientific Innovation Award, which celebrates innovation and provides a platform for ideas. The award aims to accelerate the circular transformation by encouraging the dedication and diligence needed to drive sustainable progress. Upon submission, a panel of Borealis research representatives will assess the applications and select three winners. The awardees will be contacted about their results on September 18. They will be invited to present their work in person at the recognition ceremony in the Borealis Innovation Headquarters in Linz, Austria, on October 17.Borealis created the Borealis Scientific Innovation Award to accelerate circularity. 

In brief: Launches
Beontag released its latest range of tags with RFID functionality, leveraging the new Impinj M800 series RAIN RFID tag chips. The Falcon M800, Pacer M800, Swift M800 and Setter M800 each achieve premier performance while offering specialized antenna design to meet the various needs of today’s applications in retail and industrial markets. Beontag is among the first RFID tag companies to release products with the Impinj M800 series tag chips – the latest generation IC that offers new performance achievements in readability and reliability. The Beontag tags will leverage the new IC for lower power consumption and high performance, making it easier to deploy reliable RFID systems.

Gosei Imaging, a distributor of innovative labeling solutions, launched its range of label stickers designed to optimize the F&B industry. With an improved format and material for better tracking capabilities and adhesiveness, the labels play an essential role in food safety. Right labeling can make a big difference in health, safety and cost savings, said Gosei. Labels allow essential data like allergen information, date of manufacture and product batch details to be on the packaging throughout the production and distribution journey to benefit customers and manufacturers.

UFlex’ flexitube range. In brief: Trade show news
UFlex, India’s largest multinational flexible packaging and solutions company, announced it would showcase a wide range of flexible tubes and packaging solutions featuring cutting-edge innovation and sustainable packaging structures for brands in the beauty and cosmetics industry at Cosmohome Tech Expo 2023 in Pragati Maidan, India, July 19-21. UFlex will showcase Remika, Kraftika and Earthika, its popular range of eco-friendly tubes and several other anti-counterfeit, brand enhancement and packaging solutions at the trade show.

SEA Vision announced it will be exhibiting at Pack Expo Las Vegas, US, September 11-13. At booth number 6901, SEA Vision will be presenting some of its cutting-edge technological solutions for the inspection of glass vials, syringes and carpules – serialization and aggregation to quickly comply with the fast-approaching DSCSA deadlines – and the automation of line clearance and 4.0 suite processes.

Wipotec, a manufacturer and supplier of precision in-motion weighing, track and trace and anti-counterfeiting solutions and X-Ray scanning equipment, revealed it would introduce two state-of-the-art inspection machines at Pack Expo Las Vegas at booth SU-8027. The company will premiere one unit for each of its specialties: precision check weighing and X-ray enabled inspection.

By Natalie Schwertheim