PETpla.net Insider 06 / 2018

BOTTLING / FILLING PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 06/18 www.petpla.net 42 Sidel encourages switch to PET packaging at global Dairy Innovation Summit Rising demand in liquid dairies The use of PET as a packaging material within the liquid dairy sector is forecast to grow by 9% (according to Euromonitor) over the period 2018- 2020, which means demand rising from today’s 13.7 billion package units today to 14.9 billion in 2020. Region- ally, growth is expected to be particu- larly strong in Europe and in Central Asia, with a 7.5% forecast. The trend towards PET packaging for dairy products began in Europe more than ten years ago and has spread world- wide. It has been widely adopted for chilled and ambient distribution, UHT milk, flavoured milk or soya milk. “On- the-go” formats have been particularly well received, according to Naima Boutroy, Global Packaging Technical Support at Sidel. Driven by health The liquid dairy market, traditionally in carton or HDPE containers, is driven by the burgeoning consumer demand for more functional and health-oriented drinks. This is the driver behind prod- uct diversification. The large number of product launches means that dairy players are under pressure to differen- tiate their brand; at the same time, they have a more flexible and cost-effective production. PET offers a number of attractive features as a packaging material in this market. A range of variables can influence the quality of packaged milk and liquid dairy beverage, especially microor- ganisms, light, oxygen and tempera- ture. Perfectly defined liquid recipes and processing methods, combined with the right PET bottle and asep- tic packaging solution, can ensure maximum product integrity along the supply chain for liquid dairy products, while optimising uptime and costs. “It is important to remind the dairy industry players how they can easily benefit from PET in terms of market- ing opportunities, as well as flexible and cost-effective production”, Ms Boutroy said, as she addressed the conference. “The PET package fully ensures product integrity and safety with the right barrier performance for protection from light and oxygen, facil- itating extended shelf life. This has been demonstrated across the world.” She also highlighted the advantages At the Global Dairy Innovation Summit 2018, held in Amsterdam from April 11-12, leading industry professionals discussed a range of challenges facing today’s dairy sector, and a number of novel approaches and innovations to overcome them. Sidel highlighted reasons to switch liquid dairies’ production to PET bottles for marketing and for cost- effective, flexible production.