Jin Mai Lang invests in “world’s fastest” aseptic PET lines as Chinese RTD market balloons

24 Oct 2019 --- Chinese beverage producer Jin Mai Lang has installed two Sidel complete aseptic PET lines, integrating Tetra Pak Processing System technologies and its Aseptic Combi Predis. These lines deliver a production output of 60,000 bottles per hour – making them the “world’s fastest” aseptic PET lines with dry preform decontamination for low acid products. These solutions, alongside newly designed PET bottles, aim to assist the Chinese beverage market in increasing production capacity of its low and high acid products packaged in PET, while lowering its Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

Following this, Jin Mai Lang also invested in another three Sidel aseptic complete lines, running at the same speed. The lines have been installed in the company’s factories in Tianchang and Cuiping, located in the Anhui and Henan provinces of China, respectively.

The Chinese beverage market has undergone fast growth, primarily driven by RTD beverage categories, such as tea. Following such market expansion, aseptic carton supplier SIG invested €180 million (US$200 million) in a second production plant in Suzhou, China, in July. The company also cited increasing demand for aseptic cartons across the Asia-Pacific region. The beverage space is clearly very competitive and crowded, notes Sidel, which led to Jin Mai Lang seeking to update its lines. 

Emerging markets, notably China, are continuously undergoing economic, social and environmental shifts – and rapidly. Finding ways to address the needs of a growing and quickly urbanizing population, while limiting food losses and waste, are becoming key priorities for the global packaging industry and is spurring further investment in such regions. 

“We wanted to minimize our TCO by relying on a sustainable and energy-efficient piece of equipment that uses very few chemicals and no water during production. For us, this choice translated to significant savings,” says Xianguo Fan, Chairman of Jin Mai Lang. As a Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-validated solution, already accounting for more than 150 references globally, the Sidel Aseptic Combi Predis offers a versatile production to the top Chinese player, who is now able to manage six different SKUs, including three different bottle designs for the 500 ml format and a total of six different flavours.

Click to EnlargeThe Sidel lines deliver a production output of 60,000 bottles per hour – making them the “world’s fastest” aseptic PET lines.This flexibility is also made possible by significantly reduced changeover times: less than 30 minutes are required for a bottle format changeover on the Combi. In addition, to secure maximum uptime without compromising absolute food safety, the Aseptic Combi Predis units integrated in both complete PET lines at Jin Mai Lang’s factories have already been validated for 165 continuous production hours.

New bottle designs
“Jin Mai Lang also wanted to refresh the ten-year-old designs applied to its iced and green tea PET bottles. They realized they were no longer perceived as eye-catching by young local consumers, who represent its target group,” says Steven Xie, Sidel Packaging Director.

“To address this, Sidel provided a 360° packaging service including more than 15 conceptual and technical designs, pilot bottle tests and three pilot molds. By taking advantage of the freedom of shape offered by the PET dry preform decontamination process, we helped the customer revamp its product range without increasing the bottle weight, which stays below 18 grams.”

The result is a more modern and dynamic look and feel for increased brand recognition on crowded retailer shelves. A clean and round shoulder is now combined with a bottle base enriched with an embossed pair of glasses, appealing to younger generations of consumers. 

Economic benefits were also high on the agenda when developing the designs: with this in mind, the sleeve height has been decreased for further cost savings. For additional flexibility and to welcome future needs, the iced tea bottle design has been developed to be applicable to both hot-filling and aseptic packaging production processes.

China calling
As the Chinese economy continues to expand rapidly, investment from packaging companies is funneling in.

In September, Amcor became one of the founders of the newly established China E-commerce & Logistics Packaging Standard Alliance, an initiative by JD.com, China’s largest online retailer and its biggest Internet company by revenue. The alliance also brings together six other well-known brands – Heinz, Procter & Gamble (P&G), Johnson & Johnson, Mengniu, Unilever and China Packaging Testing Centre. 

At the time, Amcor pegged China as the world’s largest and most tech-savvy consumer population, and as a digital pioneer across segments.

Indeed, a SIG survey on how consumers interact with QR codes found that, in China, consumer usage rates of connected technology was at 50 percent – well ahead of Brazil and Europe, where the numbers stood at 7 and 8 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, earlier in the year, Swiss Bühler Group and Premier Tech from Canada announced that they would build a design and manufacturing center in China with a focus on industrial flexible packaging solutions. This strategic cooperation is planned to result in a joint venture for design and manufacturing during 2020, with Bühler focusing on sales of turnkey plants around the world, and Premier Tech on packaging systems in China. 

By Laxmi Haigh

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