Sidel equips PepsiCo India with aseptic technology to meet rising healthy beverage demand

09 Feb 2021 --- Sidel is equipping Indian PepsiCo franchise RJ Corp with its Aseptic Combi Predis technology. The move marks the first commercialization of dairy PET packaging in the region as Indian companies face increasing demand for healthy beverage options.

RJ Corp operating company Varun Beverages installed the machinery at its new facility in Punjab, India, earlier this year.

Varun is one of the largest bottling partners for PepsiCo in the world, holding 36 plants on the Indian subcontinent and in Africa and producing carbonated soft drinks, water and hot-fill juices, and liquid dairy products (LDP).

The company notes a sharp rise in consumer preference for “healthy for you” beverages throughout its operating areas and says it decided to begin adjusting its business accordingly. 

To remain competitive, Varun is diversifying its portfolio and placing emphasis on its 100 percent juices with pulp and ultra-high temperature (UHT) LDP, thus gaining more production flexibility to switch product categories easily as demands change. 

The aseptic solution 
“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,” says RJS Bagga, director of technical & operations at RJ Corp. 

“High-level food safety and hygiene standards were must-have features to answer Pepsi’s demanding quality protocol as well as to pass internal and external validations.”

To meet these standards, Sidel’s Aseptic Combi Predis was chosen along with dry preform sterilization. Sidel's Aseptic Combi Predis machinery.

RJ Corp says Sidel’s technology represents a major turning point for beverage companies in India, previously producing juices in PET bottles with a hot-fill process and packaging milk in cartons.

The new line allows for up to 200 hours of continuous production without stoppages for cleaning. 

The technology uses hydrogen peroxide injection (H2O2) before the oven, meaning the machine requires no water consumption and can reduce the use of chemicals significantly. 

This is also a global “lighthouse project” for PepsiCo regarding the processing and bottling of its high-acid products like Tropicana juices. 

The Aseptic Combi Predis also features similar dry sterilization for caps, Capdis, as it was essential to optimize the cleaning process and handle the caps, says RJ Corp. This also avoids deformation and ensures tightness between the cap and the bottle.

Standardizing PET production 
To understand its line operations and maximize Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), RJ Corp also invested in Sidel’s Efficiency Improvement Tool (EIT). 

This modular and scalable software provides performance indicators, reports and analyses, based on live and historical data. Demand for healthy beverages has been rising across Asia, creating challenges for beverage manufacturers.

This helps companies to understand line flow better, uncover sources of efficiency loss and achieve in-depth performance evaluation. It also monitors quality, losses, consumption, accumulation and traceability, while interfacing with inspection devices and business systems.

Specific training was developed for all RJ Corp technicians to understand aseptic PET packaging, including the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point system (HACCP), and thus avoid any risk of contamination or detect root causes efficiently in case it happens. 

Since its implementation and validation, the company says the line has been working successfully with an output up to 36,000 bottles per hour. 

Sidel going east 
Last year, Sidel aided Japanese companies with the same aim of introducing more efficient packaging machinery to a growing demand for healthy beverages such as juice and dairy. 

An increasingly elderly population in the region demands more fortifying options against sugary drinks standards around the country. 

In addition, another Indian company, ITC Limited, opted for the Aseptic Combi Predis with the launch of its UHT milk-based drinks with fruit pieces. 

Edited

By Louis Gore-Langton