PETpla.net Insider 01+02 / 2013

BOTTLING / FILLING 28 PET planet insider Vol. 14 No. 01+02/13 www.petpla.net Kofola Group opts for KHS hotfill line for fruit beverages with chunks* Hotfilling, bit by bit Kofola is one of the major producers of non-alcoholic beverages in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Russia. A newly implemented KHS hotfill system is bottling fruit bev- erages containing pieces of fruit and fibres on the new hotfill PET line at the Mnichovo Hra- diste site near Prague in the Czech Republic. The group chose the name Kofola in 2002 after the Kofola cola beverage, Santa Napoje procured the rights to the Kofola brand. Until this date a number of different beverage plants had been acting as licensed Kofola bottlers. The product Kofola was developed by order of the government of what used to be Czechoslovakia in 1960 and was extremely popular there until 1989. Things then went quiet where Kofola was concerned. Since 2002, however, the product has been the top-selling cola brand in Slovakia. In the cola charts for the Czech Republic Kofola it is second only to Coca-Cola. Compared with many other cola beverages, Kofola contains around a third less sugar. All told, there are 14 natural additives in Kofola that give the drink, manufactured accord- ing to the original recipe from 1960, its special, typical flavour. But the Kofola brand is available not only in its clas- sic guise but also in new flavours, such as Extra Herbal, Citrus, Sour Cherries, The company and its brands Kofola Group was founded under the name of SP Vrachos in 1993. In 1996, its activities were transferred to a newly founded company, Santa Napoje, which operated exclusively in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Today, the Kofola Group runs seven production sites, two of which are in the Czech Republic, one in Slovakia, three in Poland, and one in Russia. KHS‘ process engineers decided on separate treatment for the liquid and solids phase for Kofola, applying the relevant hotfill process to the beverages at the given temperature. Under the Snipp brand, Kofola has recently started to fill a range of fruit beverages containing pieces of fruit that requires special filling technology.