First UHT Gable Top Carton on the Market

Elopak’s new aseptic filling machine, the E-PS120A, provides highly efficient filling of both high and low acid products in ambient distribution.

“With its proven track record of convenience and on-shelf differentiation we see great potential for the gable top carton in aseptic markets,” says Oliver Betzer, Director Strategic Marketing, Elopak. “These are important elements in stagnating markets where innovation, value added packaging and differentiating concepts are critical.”

Elopak’s new aseptic filling machine, the E-PS120A, provides highly efficient filling of both high and low acid products in ambient distribution. “The machine been successfully in production in the juice industry for some time, and now for the first time we can offer our customers the Pure-Pak® gable top carton also for UHT milk,” explains Dirk Endlich, Market Area Director Central Europe, Elopak. The filling platform was developed at Elopak’s facility in Mönchengladbach, Germany. Depending on the product, a shelf life of up to 12 months can be achieved, with up to 12.000 cartons filled per hour.

The filling line was installed, tested and validated at Arla’s Pronsfeld site in Germany. Arla, one of the largest dairies in Europe, has been using Elopak’s packaging concept for many years and is now the first to launch a long-life milk brand in the aseptic Pure-Pak® gable top carton.

"For us it is important that the products stand out not only with their modern attractive design, but to also clearly differ from conventional types of long-life milk packaging," explains Winfried Meier, Sales Director at Arla Foods. "We are confident that the gable top format works equally as well for long-life milk products as it supports the new emotional and eye-catching image of our pasture milk. The product looks at first glance like a typical fresh milk package and fits perfectly with the promise of quality we guarantee to our consumers of both fresh and UHT milk.”

The E-PS120A filling machine has a modular compact design with an integrated cap applicator for maximum flexibility in manufacturing, assembly, operation and maintenance and requires a minimal floor space of 25 sqm. The machine enables the flexibility needed for today’s demanding markets with the ability to changeover designs and three different carton sizes (500ml, 750ml and 1000ml). The new line is also fitted with the ELOEE (Elopak Line Overall Equipment Effectiveness) advanced data acquisition system which enables central data storage with remote access to reports.

“The integrated data acquisition system gives us optimum system monitoring and contributes to the increase in efficiency: all important processes and characteristics are recorded which leads to the error ratio being reduced and helps facilitate the maintenance process.” adds Jürgen Wolf, site manager at Arla, Pronsfeld.

Source: Elopak