PETpla.net Insider 06 / 2017

PREFORM PRODUCTION PET planet Insider Vol. 18 No. 06/17 www.petpla.net 20 Retal JSC, Russia, enters the PET keg market PET kegs for Russia Use of modern disposable high-volume PET packaging is a growing trend in the restaurant industry. This is why Retal JSC has started to produce preforms for 20, 30 and 35 litre PET kegs. Research shows only slight growth in beer production in Russia after four years of decline, but still it is less than 1% year on year. However, the PET keg segment is showing constant growth and Retal predicts that this market will double during the next year. PET kegs are growing in popularity all over the world. They can be filled even on the metal keg filling lines with the special adapter. In addition, PET kegs are convenient for transportation and the bottling of beer, kvass, wine, cider, sweet carbonated drinks and low-alcohol cocktails has a number of advantages. Disposable PET kegs meet all necessary environmental and safety standards and are much lighter and more economical compared to their metal counterparts. Also the use of PET kegs means that the whole chain of cost-based stages for the acquisition and turnover of kegs, such as return, washing and storage can be eliminated. This type of packaging works in accordance with the “ship and forget” principle. Retal entered this actively devel- oping market taking production capac- ity in the Russian Federation into account, and special attention was given to material selection. Their part- ner in this project, as a developer and supplier of PET keg fittings is the Rus- sian company “PET-Expert”, which also carries out blowing of PET kegs from Retal preforms. According to General Manager of PET-Expert Sergey Maximov: “We firmly believe that PET kegs are the future of the beer industry. Russian consumers are increasingly turning to live and craft beer, and the con- sumption culture is changing towards civilised consumption in bars, restau- rants as in Europe. For this reason, the quality requirements for beer are becoming higher. This indicates that small and medium business sector in Russia is actively developing. We have been working with Retal for many years, and for us Retal is a very reliable supplier producing preforms with what we believe is the best qual- ity on the market. We are making PET kegs together with Retal and we are sure that the project will be very suc- cessful.” In May 2017 Retal and PET-Expert presented its joint product during the XХVI international forum “Beer 2017” in Sochi, Russian Federation. “More than 100 beverage producers showed an interest in possible partnership. And already contracts were signed with some of them during the exhibi- tion.” says Igor Golovanov, Deputy Sales Director Retal Russia. He con- tinued “Retal successfully works with the beer segment in Russia, more than 15% of Retal’s production is shipped to beer customers. For more than ten years leading beer producers such as Carlsberg, Heineken or ABI have been our partners.” Product range growth with PET kegs is intended to further strengthen the company’s position in the Russian beer segment. www.retalgroup.com PREFORM special