PETpla.net Insider 05 / 2018

EDITOUR PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 05/18 www.petpla.net 28 Durable bottles are back in fashion Boutique bottling Rivera Beverages, March 2018 We met: Mr Chris Solberg, General Manager Rivera Beverages from Garden Grove, California, is a ‘boutique bottling company’ that works exclusively with small to midsize high quality premium water brands. This is a growing trend in the USA. What a relief to go into the Rivera Beverages facility and nd actual quality water bottles that you can hold rmly in your hand and they do not crush or break when opened (spilling its contents all over your shirt, trou- sers or both). This trend has emerged in America, namely local premium water which, of course, comes in a high quality classic (durable) bottle with the classic heavy PCO 1810 cap. California has proven itself as the start market as the season here goes on throughout the year. On the east coast, the water market uctuates more, depending on the weather. Chris Solberg, General Manager of Rivera Beverages, tells us that Rivi- era bottles water on a contractual basis for premium brands. The rm choses to do business with this particular target group. Riviera pro- duces and lls a variety of different styles of custom- made bottles (all with the PCO 1810 neck nish) at their plant. Clients occasion- ally bring their own water with them. The furthest distance travelled is from Hawaii, to which it is then produced and shipped out under the “WAIAKEA” brand. It all started 12 years ago when the company was producing modest quantities for small private brands. Their customers included hotel chains among others. However, the premium brand business has become more and more prominent over the past ve years. Four years ago, in order to keep pace with increasing customer demand, Rivera invested in two new bottle blowing and lling lines from Tech Long. Riviera chose Tech Long because of the service, the quality of the equipment, and the support received. The old saying still applies today that the rst plant is sold by the seller and the rest by the service department. Riviera obtains its preforms pri- marily from Resilux in the USA. They have had mixed experiences with different preform suppliers result- ing in too much variation in quality. The caps come from CSI. The bottles usually have a PCO 1810 cap on the neck, but can also sometimes have a PCO 28 ip top cap by using a second cap feeder. In short, this is a fantastic facility for this ‘boutique market’! www.rivierabeverages.com Tour Sponsors: Two eight-cavity bottle blowing machines supply both bottling lines. This unique water arrives in a tank trailer from Hawaii, is bottled at Riviera, then shipped to distribution centers. Chris Solberg, GM, Rivera Beverages, Garden Grove, California, USA.