PETpla.net Insider 09 / 2011

source: Stephan Barth / pixelio.de BOTTLING / FILLING 36 PET planet insider Vol. 12 No. 09/11 www.petpla.net From zero to 93 million litres in two years Ten years ago, in 2001, Indone- sia’s water market still looked very different: about 250 vendors were producing 5.4 billion litres of water with an installed capacity of 6.7 billion litres. Only the really big producers were then offering PET bottles. Today, the installed capacity has reached almost 20 billion litres. In 2002, back in the early days of the water boom, Tirta Amarta had begun to fill gallon containers, and subsequently oper- ated a relatively small filling line , for handling not only drinking beakers, but also PET containers. They began initiating sales in market regions outside the Jakarta conurbation. Tirta Amarta purchased the PET contain- ers already blow-moulded, but due to the market’s rapid expansion they soon became scarce. The water brand Viro was well received: demand was rising, Tirta Amarta wanted to expand, wanted rotary technology, wanted its own in-house PET container produc- tion operation, better line availability, higher output. Gain market share by attractive pricing, minimised packaging costs plus maximised efficiency in the bottling operation: this was Tirta Amarta’s concept for tackling the Indonesian water market. And they did this firstly by means of a newly designed lightweight short-neck container, and secondly by two PET bottling lines from Krones, installed in quick succession. Accelerating growth fuels demand* Bottled water boom in Indonesia *Based on an article by Hendra Wivina, Krones AG, Indonesia Outside the cleanroom, two Contiroll machines dress the 600-ml and 1.500-ml containers in wrap-around labels. Packaged drinking water is a huge market in Indonesia. Of the approxi- mately 14.5 billion litres packed in 2010, around 60% came from the market leader. The rest, a still-sub- stantial 6.5 billion litres or 65 million hectolitres, is shared by an estimated 670 smaller and large bottlers. Many of them operate on only a regional or even local scale, and most of them package their water in small portion beakers with a film closure holding 200 to 300ml, or in large 5-gallon con- tainers for home consumption. And this is precisely how Tirta Amarta got its start in the water business too.