PETpla.net Insider 04 / 2017

BOTTLING / FILLING 27 PET planet Insider Vol. 18 No. 04/17 PET bottles for all milk variants The move to PET packaging in India began in the mid 80s, with the introduction of PET bottles for house- hold containers (jars) and edible oil (EO). The market expanded to include bottled water, CSD, alcoholic bever- ages, fruit drinks, wellness drinks, per- sonal care, agro-chemicals etc. in the 1990s. The next decade saw energy drinks, fortified water, RTDs etc. added to the PET packaging portfolio. The PET bottle for fresh milk by Gowardhan was launched more than a decade back and PET for other milk variants and dairy products have been added in recent years, and this segment has shown particu- larly strong growth. Reliance makes Relpet grade PET resin used for making PET bottles which finds application with the full range of milk variants avail- able on the market. This includes fresh milk, flavoured milk, buttermilk, UHT milk and these milk variants are filled in more than ten locations across India. PET is catching up fast for “Farm Fresh” milk in India. While it was milk majors like GCMMF Ltd (Gujarat Co-operative Milk Market- ing Federation) that initially offered milk variants such as flavoured milk and lassi (a yoghurt-based drink) pack- aged in PET in 2013, the positive market response has triggered interest in PET in small and medium dairy com- panies across the country. This trend would be encour- aged and strengthened by machine suppliers addressing the need for “low capacity” aseptic filling equipment, suit- able for the requirements of small or medium-sized dairy companies. Such develop- ments would enable a broad range of aseptically filled products. The aseptic process has the specific advantage ChemTrend.com PROTECT YOUR ASSETS. Team up with Lusin ® and Ultra Purge ™ Lusin ® and Ultra Purge ™ form a winning combination Ultra Purge™ and Lusin® purging compounds , release agents and mold maintenance products protect your assets by reducing downtime, increasing efficiency and extending the life of your tooling. Milk and dairy products in India are currently packaged in:  Fresh milk: PE pouches, HDPE and PET  Flavoured milk: Tetrapack, glass, PP and PET  Buttermilk: PE pouches, Tetra- pack and PET  UHT milk: Tetrapack, BOPET and PET Emerging trends include growth in the use of PET for fresh, fla- voured, UHT and buttermilk.  Gowardhan Dairy packs fresh milk in 1l/28g transparent PET bottles. It has a 4-day shelf life.  Amul Dairy offers A2 milk in 500ml transparent PET bottles, with 4-day shelf life.  Amul launched a 200ml PET- packaged flavoured milk range in May 2013 and has started two more ‘PET aseptic’ filling lines.  UHT milk is sold by Amul Dairy in opaque white 200ml PET bottles, with a shelf life of six months.