PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2019

BOTTLE MAKING 14 PET planet Insider Vol. 20 No. 03/19 www.petpla.net Eye-catching body shapes in the HPC category Green bottle, red tower At retail outlets, consumers are faced with a huge choice of different products in the HPC (Household and Personal Care) category – and nevertheless they decide within a fraction of a second to buy a particular product. But how is this done? Besides the decision made on the basis of the product and the brandname, the bottle design and the label always play a vital role, too. The container’s look serves simply as an eye-catcher. Fit GmbH, head- quartered in Zittau, Germany, realised this decades ago. One of the compa- ny’s best-known products is the green original variant of the Fit washing-up liquid in a striking, angular bottle. The shape of this bottle is modelled on a historical landmark: the Red Tower in Chemnitz. The corporate history of Fit is an eventful one, and begins 65 years ago in what is now called Chem- nitz with the Fit-liquid brandname. Just one year later, the Fit washing- up liquid was launched. Following German reunification, falling sales figures and the concomitantly critical financial situation almost bankrupted the company. The reason: Fit had not been listed by most of West Ger- many’s new retail chains. But instead of giving up, trucks were loaded with Fit’s products and sold from the load- ing bed in front of the supermarkets. In 1993, the graduate chemist Dr Wolfgang Gross purchased the plant in Zittau, and founded the present- day Fit GmbH. The take-over came as a breath of fresh air for the company. With substantial investments, in a first step the production lines were expanded and modernised. And certification under DIN ISO 9001 had back in 1995 already enhanced the transparency of the firm’s operational procedures, reducing the defect rate and thus saving costs as well. Even more important, however, was the return of an R&D-driven mindset and a resolve to innovate. In addition to the main product, the East German classic Fit washing-up liquid, the product portfolio was stead- ily expanded in subsequent years. There followed cleaning tabs, washing powder and laundry perfumes, plus body care products. It didn’t take long for the meas- ures to produce success: today, the mid-tier company’s sales figures, at € 165m gross turnover, are 27 times as high as in 1993. And the biggest setback in the firm’s history has also been overcome: in August 2010, the River Neisse burst its banks, over- flowing into the company’s entire premises. The disastrous flooding destroyed stocks, and paralysed the entire production operation. The loss and damage ran into millions, and complete normality was only restored many months later – even though pro- duction was resumed quite quickly. Besides Fit, the company’s brands meanwhile include Kuschelweich, Sunil, Rei (in the tube), Sanso and the hair care brand Gard, plus the body care brand Fenjal. Traditionally sustainable by conviction For more than 25 years now, Fit GmbH has prioritised responsible dealings with the natural environment, coupled with high product quality. Many products are manufactured on the basis of sustainable raw materials, are phosphate-free and completely biodegradable, and bear the Euro- pean Eco-Label. But it’s not only in the portfolio and the constituents that Fit displays its corporate commitment to the natural environment, it’s in the entire produc- tion process as well. An in-house solar installation supplies power amount- ing to almost 135,000 kWh a year. Preforms, and sometimes closures ProShape can be integrated not only in Krones’ machines, but in Kosme’s as well. With the ProShape module, preforms can be selectively temperature-con- trolled, so as to subsequently blow- mould them into perfectly shaped containers.