Russian Sostra embraces hot bottling to raise quality

Russian natural sauce producer Sostra believes a high quality production technique called ‘hot bottling’ has led directly to the success of its expanded premium product range, yet high pricing may still deter consumers.Sostra said the rising popularity of its premium Paprici brand was because all the sauces were heated before being bottled. This kills off all bacteria in the sauce, which may otherwise change its taste slightly after packaging.

Russian natural sauce producer Sostra believes a high quality production technique called ‘hot bottling’ has led directly to the success of its expanded premium product range, yet high pricing may still deter consumers.Sostra said the rising popularity of its premium Paprici brand was because all the sauces were heated before being bottled. This kills off all bacteria in the sauce, which may otherwise change its taste slightly after packaging. The company uses the technique across its whole Paprici range, now expanded to include 17 different flavours, and recently featured at the Prodexpo 2005 exhibition. Hot bottling is already used by a number of other manufacturers around the world. For example, Singaporean juice firm Zhongguo Jilong heats its juices to 90 degrees Celsius before bottling, which it claims sterilises the bottle and cap, allows the production of quality juices with no preservatives and an estimated shelf-life of 18 months.