PETpla.net Insider 06 / 2019

7 NEWS PET planet Insider Vol. 20 No. 06/19 www.petpla.net Herbold Meckesheim starts rebuilding the site destroyed by a devastating blaze After the devastating fire in September 2018, Herbold Meckesheim has just begun rebuilding the destroyed production halls. The whole incoming goods and shipping department, the warehouse as well as parts of the production area were devastated by the flames. The new buildings, comprising a 4,000m 2 area, are anticipated to be up and running in September. As the General Manager Werner Herbold put it, “This was the perfect opportunity to reorganise our business activities in order to be more flexible in all our steps and at the same time relieve the traffic situation in the neighbourhood. We are very grateful to the assurance company, the municipality of Meckesheim, the Landratsamt (district administration) of the Rhein-Neckar District and all other authorities involved for the assistance we received, the quick decision taking and the sympathy for us in our terrible predicament.” The fire started on 10 th of September 2019 caused by a technical fault. The budget for the demolition and rebuilding amounts to €3 million. At the site in Meckesheim, Germany, Herbold employs 160 members of staff and specialises in machines and plants for recycling plastics, a market that is growing. More than two thirds of the production is exported all over the world. www.herbold.com After the fire (left), and an animation of the new design on the right Sidel announced as Yili Group’s Global Strategic Partner Supplier Yili China, the world’s largest liquid dairy producer, recently organised a supplier conference in Xiamen, China. Thanks to the broad application of Sidel aseptic complete PET packaging lines to produce Yili’s Ambrosial Yoghurt for ambient distribution – all of them integrating the company’s Aseptic Combi Predis with its unique, patented dry preform sterilisation technology – Sidel was selected as Yili Group’s Global Strategic Partner Supplier and received the Innovation Award. This recognition is claimed to represent the most recent milestone in the longstanding relationship between the two companies, with Sidel operating in the largest business segment within the Yili ecosystem as the biggest partnering supplier of the PET product line within its Liquid Dairy Division. Mr. Qiming Fu, Senior Sales Manager and Key Account Yili at Sidel, was the one accepting the award on behalf of the company. www.sidel.com Bottled Water, the largest beverage in the U.S., continues to grow After having topped carbonated soft drinks to become the largest beverage category by volume in the United States two years earlier, bottled water growth enlarged further in 2018, albeit at a slower rate than in 2017. Total bottled water volume grew from 13.2 billion gallons in 2017 to 13.8 billion gallons in 2018, an increase of almost 5% (comparted to more than 6% in 2017). These are the findings of the Beverage Marketing Corporation (BMC). Except for two relatively small declines in 2008 and 2009 — when most beverage categories contracted — bottled water volume grew every year from 1977 to 2018. This period included 17 double–digit annual volume growth spurts. Since resuming growth in 2010, bottled water volume has consistently enlarged at solid single–digit percentage rates. As a result, per capita con- sumption exceeded 42 gallons in 2018, while average intake of carbonated soft drinks slipped to around 37 gallons. At the turn of the century, per capita soft drink consumption regularly exceeded 50 gallons, and Beverage Marketing expects bottled water to reach that level by the middle of the next decade. The differing developments of the two largest beverage types are significant. “Bottled water’s ascent occurred in tandem with, and was largely responsible for, changes in consumer preferences for healthier forms of rehydration and refresh- ment,” explained Michael C. Bellas, chairman and CEO, Beverage Marketing Corporation. “Portable and affordable bottled water aligned perfectly with numerous usage occasions at all times of day. Bottled water emerged as the beverage of choice both for people reducing calories or avoiding artificial sweeteners and for anyone looking for an all-natural refreshment beverage,” he added. Single-serving sizes became the most popular bottled water option, accounting for the majority of the category’s volume. In 2018, the single-serve segment enlarged more than 5% to almost 9.7 billion gallons. Yet all other segments, including larger, multi-serving bottles as well as home and office delivery, sparkling water and imports, also registered growth in 2018. Indeed, domestic sparking water advanced at a double-digit rate, and imports outperformed the overall market, though both still claimed comparatively small shares of volume. Looking forward, Beverage Marketing expects bottled water to lengthen its already considerable record of growth and to put still more distance between itself and the beverage category it sur- passed to become the biggest. www.beveragemarketing.com