PETpla.net Insider 10 / 2014

BOTTLING / FILLING 26 PET planet insider Vol. 15 No. 10/14 www.petpla.net Vitafit makes more than 40 different products under seven individual brands founded, over 80% of juice-based beverages were imported into the Mongolian market. The equivalent figure today is well below 10%. Growing with PET Vitafit first adopted PET packages in 2002, when it began bottling its Vita brand table water in PET contain- ers. That particular line, which uses Chinese equipment, now operates at 10,000bph. Aseptic production is con- centrated on filling 1l carton packages with juices and milk at 11,000bph. A Chinese-manufactured hotfill line was installed in 2005 and bottles iced tea, juices and pulpy drinks in 600ml wide-neck PET containers at 6,500 to 8,000bph. It introduced dry-aseptic fill- ing of PET bottles with juices in 2005. Vitafit is now the exclusive Pepsi-Cola licensee in Mongolia and operates its CSD line at 15,000bph. Kefir, a fer- mented milk product, is filled in 1l and 1,5l PET and HDPE containers and small tubs. Vitafit now sells more than 40 dif- ferent lines under seven individual brands including Multi added-vitamin juice; Goy fruit juice-based bever- ages; Goy iced tea and Superfruits; and Anar 100% fruit juice. Demand continues to rise and Vitafit continues to invest to meet it. New for Mongolia: Krones hotfill line In the summer of 2013 Vitafit expanded its equipment portfolio to include an 18,000bph hotfill PET line from Krones AG, which was the first of this kind that the company had installed in Mongolia. As lead contractor, Krones was also tasked to manage the project’s installation and integration. Its machines serve as signal generators for all other machines upstream, including in the new syrup kitchen, which is equipped with Chinese-manufactured reverse- osmosis water treatment system, container conveyors, labeller and bottle cooler. The kitchen features a Krones deaerator and VarioFlash shell-and-tube heat exchanger as a flash pasteuriser. The bottling line incorporates a Contiform H12 blow- moulding machine with a hopper, preform feed and preform interior cleaning, which is monobloc-synchro- nised with a Modulfill VP-GL-PET filler, where the beverages are filled at a temperature of 88°C. A Check- mat 731 FM-X+L inspector monitors output, inluding fill levels. End-of- the-line packaging is handled by a Krones Variopac Pro FS non-returna- bles packer from Krones. Vitafit opted for a hotfill line instead of a second aseptic line because the hotfill line is less complex and thus easier to operate; aseptic specialists are both rare and expen- sive in Mongolia. Vitafit preferred a monobloc configuration for the blow- moulding machine and the filler. The new line had to be integrated into an existing section of the hall, which favoured the reduced footprint of the monobloc. Getting lighter The first delivery package included four mould sets, for containers with volumes of 250, 480, 500 and 1,250ml. These are used to bottle eleven different still products, includ- ing the Multi and Anar 20% fruit-juice beverages, in hotfill bottles with panel- type sidewalls and a 28mm narrow- neck design. Beverages are filled into PET bottles at 88°C on the Modulfill VP-GL-PET filler.