PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2012

EDITOUR REPORTS 31 PET planet insider Vol. 13 No. 03/12 www.petpla.net bottle volumes, these generally tend to be in the region of 0.33l to 2l. Particularly popular are single-serve PET bottles with a capacity of 0.5l. In the bottled water segment Pivovarna Lasko with its Radenska brand is the market leader with a market share of around 50%. Second place in market ranking in 2010 was held by Droga Kolinska with around 13% share followed by Uskok with approximately 5% (Source: Canadean). A significant level of demand exists in the flavoured waters sector, where natural additives such as fruit juice additives, for example, are used in the manufacturing process, which offers an interesting range of sweetened and unsweetened flavours. A glance into the future indicates that Slovenia is set to further extend its production of bottled water, probably by focusing on functional water and the export of local brands. Dana dd. Mirna, Slovenia We met: Mr. Mitja Majzelj, Production Manager Mitja Majzelj (left) with Kay Krüger (right) in front of the plan of the spring The chance discovery of the spring water Dana was launched in 1952 as a small schnapps distill- ery with the same company head office that is still occupied by the company today. With Slovenia’s declaration of inde- pendence in 1991 and the demise of the Yugoslavian market as its chief sales outlet, predominantly for alcoholic but also for carbonated drinks, the company changed direction and developed not only new brands, but also new markets. 1991 saw Dana using PET as drinks packaging for the first time; in 1995 came the first soft drinks and nectars, non-alcoholic in glass and Combibloc. A Sidel production line with a capacity of 9,200bph has been in use since 2001, with potential bottle sizes ranging from 0,33, 0,5, 1, 1,5 up to 2l. The largest bottle has a volumetric capacity of 18.9l. 2003 and a new chapter opens in the company history: Entirely by chance, when searching for cooling water for the existing machines, a very high quality spring water was discovered when drilling at a depth of 180m. This led to the decision to add an extra string to the company’s bow in the water bottling sector. The spring was situated in an ideal loca- tion directly on the company’s premises enabling processing to take place without having to adopt a circuitous route. Dana operates chiefly within a radius of approx. 400km, but is also active as a supplier in Germany, Austria, Netherlands, China, USA and Italy with a sales distribution of 80% for Slovenia and 20% for other markets. In addition to local shops Merca- tor, TUŠ, Spar, bottling operations are also conducted here for the major discounters e.g. Lidl , with annual sales totalling €12.7 million. Today Dana is able to offer around 300 different products, their main product being Dana Water, a pure and currently much in demand flavoured water with natural fruit additives which form part of its own manufacturing range. In addition, Dana also manufactures under licence from Sinalco. Bottle designs range from clear to coloured with partial sleeve and full sleeve for an enhanced marketing effect, in particular when it comes to the younger target group. Preform suppliers include Resilux, Putoksnis, Retal, GastroPET….. Dana claims to always have the most up-to-date machines in its repertoire for use in the sectors of blowing, filling and capping (Sidel) and labelling (Krones). As a result of continuous reinvestment on the part of the firm’s owner, Dana is constantly growing. Dana’s objective for the future is to focus more on the functional water sector. Pivovarna Union dd We met: Mr. Andrej Varsek, Technical Director Andrej Varsek (left) and Kay Krüger (right) backed by historic photographs of the brewery From beer and glass to water and PET The brewery Pivovarna Union d.d. is a company that was set up in 1864 in Ljubljana, as a small brewery producing beer and has since expanded to occupy company premises cover- ing 37,000m². Also on site is a really impressive museum covering the whole of the company’s history which has also been singled out for an accolade. In addition to a wealth of information about the beginnings of beer brewing it is also here where the original machine parts, tools and bottles are exhibited. There is also a replica of a tavern here, constructed so as to be true to the original and dating back to those times. Up to 1991 when the country achieved its independence, the company produced only beer. This is still being brewed today using the natural spring water supplied from a total of six deep drilled springs. In consequence of the breakup of Yugoslavia a severe collapse in beer sales occurred with the result that the brewery was forced to perform a strategic realignment, expanding its product range with non-carbonated water and from then on (as of 1995) also using PET in its bottling operations with a KHS in the bottling and labelling sectors as well as a Sidel SBO 4 blow moulding machine.