PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2014

EDITOUR REPORTS 14 PET planet insider Vol. 15 No. 03/14 www.petpla.net A pioneer in the Brazilian PET market Initially, PET bottles were bought in from the market in Sao Paulo. It was not until 1994 that the company purchased its own blow moulding machine from Messrs MAG Plastic Switzerland with four blow moulding sta- tions installed and the preforms bought in from all over the world. As we toured the factory, we noted a Krones Conti- form S8 stretch blow moulding machine and a KHS bottling machine with a bottling capacity of 14,000bph. In each case the bottler is modified to suit the bottle sizes required. 80% of the preforms are purchased from Plastipak Packaging do Brasil and the plastic closures from CSI Clo- sures Brazil in the 1881 lightweight version with a weight of 2.7g. The change-over to this closure took place in 2012. As far as the bottle sizes are concerned, the 2l PET bottle accounts for 80% of production, followed by the 0.6l with 7%, 1.5l with 6% and 290ml with 7%. Two particu- lar areas of growth are the 1.5l and 2l bottles. A special requirement of consumers in the Parana and Santa Cata- rina regions is the “family size” bottle” and Hugo Cini take pride in catering for this market. The total bottling capacity is 14 million litres a year in PET bottles. The portfolio also comprises Cini soft drinks bottled in reusable glass bottles as well as mineral water (carbonated and non-carbonated) bottled in PET bottles (some of which are recyclable) and plastic tumblers marketed under the Cini brandname but filled by partner companies. The share of the market for recyclable beverages packaging in the region continues to be stable at 15%. According to Nilo Cini Jr, having a large portfolio is important for generating customer loyalty. This brings us to the sales structure.Transport costs are high here, and this is why the company focuses on a sales radius of some 200km using their own transport fleet and person- nel. According to Nilo Cini Jr, “this is also a way of taking on the big boys. We have an easy and direct access to the market, and it facilitates the introduction of new products for smaller bottlers. The majority of our 200 direct employ- ees are sales people. Anything over and above this is han- dled via trade organisations.” The company’s philosophy has been to ignore the tra- ditional beverages market focusing instead on the require- ments of a particular group of purchasers by exploiting differences in taste. An example of this is sugar-free drinks, which Hugo Cini was one of the first beverage bottling companies to be able to offer as far back as the 1990s. The years 2005/6 saw the launch of soft drinks based on juices from Brazilian fruits and tea was also introduced. According to Nilo Cini Jr, there is nothing currently on the market that is similar to their Swiss Lemonade (Limonada Suica), a beverage which appeals to a large number of people in the region. The various flavours are devised in-house, and the concentrates are bought in and blended. The fruit concen- trates, for example, come from other companies within the family who own factories in Manaus and produce fruit extracts from regional fruits. The market strategy is positive. According to Nilo Cini Jr, in 20012 they registered growth of 10% and are anticipating a similar figure for 2013 which means they are above average for Brazil. May 7, 2013 Industria Zugliani de Refrigerantes e Bebidas Ltda. We met: Sidney Angelo Zugliani, Director Industrial Jose Guilherme Zugliani, Finance Manager From left to right: Well Bueno, Dept. Marketing, Lady member of staff, Sidney Angelo Zugliani, Director Industrial In the background a Brazilian bottling machine for bottling Soda soft drinks in 250ml PET bottles Step by step This family-run enterprise, founded and still run by the descendants of Italian immigrants, has been producing beverages for more than a century. Even before waves of Italian immigrants arrived in Brazil in between 1877 and 1900, the family was already active in the wine business. However, it was not until 1941 when the family acquired a controlling stake in a soft drinks producer that the company really took off. Over subsequent years the company was Nilo Cini, Junior Director / Bottling of Cini Laranjinha soft drinks in 600ml PET bottles on a KHS bottling machine