PETpla.net Insider 04 / 2015

CAPPING / CLOSURES 31 PET planet insider Vol. 16 No. 04/15 www.petpla.net Closure and contents How can we make functional beverages even better? In the opinion of Roger Wilfinger, proprietor and CEO of Vicap, the answer lies in the separation of additives and water up to shortly before consumption. Through the simple push of the button the concentrates are released into the bottle right before the beverage is consumed. Many vitamins, aromas and addi- tives are known to be sensitive to oxygen, UV radiation heat treatment, to name but two of the influencing factors. In order to create functional drinks in spite of this, the beverages industry restricts itself to vitamins, aromas and additives which will resist these external influences, at least for a certain period of time. To make it possible to also use aromas and addi- tives that are sensitive to heat, the industry uses cold aseptic processes. However, there is still a broad spec- trum of natural aromas and additives which is barred as far as the drinks industry is concerned because there are no types of packaging that are able to offer 100% protection. Roger, who was a long time ago trained as a chef and has worked in a number of countries worldwide, is familiar with excellence when it comes to flavour. He is also keen to make his experience available to the bever- ages industry by creating new experi- ences in terms of taste which are far removed from the classic flavouring variations and which are based on aromas that have, up to now, been beyond the reach of the beverages industry. And this is Roger Wilfinger’s start- ing point. If these sensitive vitamins, aromas and additives are not in the drink in the first place, then it will be impossible for them to be affected by light, oxygen or any other envi- ronmental factors. He stores these ingredients in the closure cap. It is only once the consumer has opened the closure that the aromas enter the beverage liquid where their delicious flavour is dispersed. Things that sound simple have a tendency to incorporate snags.The additives are placed in one cham- ber of the closure inside the clean room and aseptically sealed. This means that they are sealed in the best possible way up to the time of consumption. The 5-section closure has needed time to come to the stage of technical maturity so that it can now go through installation and aseptic bottling without any risk of malfunction and can also be processed without any problems at the premises of pack- aging companies who do not have a clean room. For this year, the target is 20 mil- lion closures; as regards the coming year, a minimum of 50 million is antici- pated. In collaboration with Döhler, Roger is offering the closures ready to seal. Regardless of whether it’s Europe or the Gulf States, the aromas are put together for the customer on an indi- vidual basis and the closure sold fully charged to the bottler. One example of a ‘big name’ partner is Humana Pharma International. www.vicapsystems.eu Mr Roger Wilfinger, CEO of Vicap