PETpla.net Insider 05 / 2010

REGIONAL MARKET REPORTS 14 PET planet insider Vol. 11 No. 05/10 www.petpla.net Bonite Bottlers Ltd is the Coca-Cola licensee in Northern Tan- zania. F.l.t.r.: Zoeb T. Hassuji, Managing Director, Christopher Loiruk, General Sales Manager, Alexander Büchler, and Peter Mayagils, Quality Manager The extent to which the company has integrated nature, the environment, and above all Kilimanjaro, into its phi- losophy can be seen most clearly in the business-like and down-to-earth office of Christopher Loiruk. There is a window that covers the full width of the room giving an uninterrupted view of Kilimanjaro, and, by lowering one’s eyes a little from the mountain itself, the bustling activity on the Bonite site can be seen. Filling under licence from Coca-Cola is the mainstay of the operation. Because of the size of Tanzania, Coca-Cola has appointed four regional licensees, with Bonite being responsible for the northern area. Filling is mainly done in refillable glass at up to 30,000 bph. Only the 1.5 litre bottle is made from PET and weighs in at 48 grams. It carries a PCO 28 cap. The new blocked blowing/filling line from Krones is already in operation. The valves are designed to handle still water and also CSDs. From left, Christopher Loiruk, Alexander Büchler and Peter Mayagils The labeller is located at the dry end Because Coca-Cola is the main business, all of the filling lines must meet Coca-Cola standards. “That may demand a higher level of investment but we can be sure that our quality is of a high standard,” explained Peter May- agils. The latest example of the drive to quality is the very recently installed Krones line for filling water and CSDs. The Contiform S 12 stretch blow moulder feeds bottles directly to the rinser, which is mechanically blocked with the Contiform and the 70-head volumetric filler. The label- ler, also from Krones, is located at the end of the dry area. The whole line has a capacity of 20,000 bph. This new line complements another Krones line, used to fill water, which itself is only 5 years old and is com- posed of separate machines. This “old” line was brought in to replace the original PVC line. The new glass filling line is also from Krones. “We did buy a filling line from another supplier about 10 years ago. It included an integrated Krones packer and we were so pleased with the service from Krones when compared with the service we got for the rest of the line that we ordered our next lines from Neu- traubling,” said Christopher Loiruk. “Full steam ahead” for preform production. Christopher Loiruk and Peter Mayagils at the material dryer for the Husky Hypet 120 With the two Krones PET lines the company still has only 32,000 bph capacity, but today that is still more than the volume of water filled. “Up to now we have limited ourselves to selling our premium water only in the area covered by our Coca-Cola licence. Now we distribute the water across the whole country. Our first successes, for example, were in Dar Es Salaam. We are gradually work-