PETpla.net Insider 11 / 2020

BOTTLING / FILLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 21 No. 11/20 www.petpla.net 28 A new Krones PET bottling line replaces two existing ones at the Ogeu Group’s site in Quézac, France, with a customised block solution provided for the cold-glue labelling specified by the client. One of the last European’s wild corners Ogeu’s history began almost 200 years ago in the heart of the French Pyrenees. In 1820, a spa resort centre was set up around the spring in the eponymous town of Ogeu-les-Bains, followed later on by a bottling plant. The group itself was then formed after the Second World War, and has been family-owned ever since. Today, CEO Jean-Hervé Chassaigne and his sister Pascale Lapassade are carrying on the family tradition in the third generation. Ogeu’s market strength is a result of water brands from different regions – a segment in which the group nowadays is the market leader in France. “In view of the fierce competition, it doesn’t really make sense to try and establish a national brand,” says Jean-Hervé Chas- saigne. Facilities all over the country The family firm fills water from and in a hugely diverse array of the coun- try’s landscapes: from the Atlantic coast of Brittany in the north through the heartlands of the country with the Ile de France, all the way to the French Alps, the lavender fields and Mediter- ranean beaches of Provence, and the mountain ranges of the Pyrenees in the south. With a series of new acquisitions and start-ups, Ogeu has expanded the number of its springs, and nowadays operates six facilities for bottling mineral water. With a payroll of 200, the Ogeu Group achieves a turnover of around 80 million euros, from overall sales of 350 million litres. For this purpose, it operates 18 lines, eight of them for PET containers. It was back in 1971 that the group had commissioned its first PET bottling line. Now it has for the first time opted for a complete line from Krones. This was installed at the facility in Quézac, which Ogeu had taken over from Nestlé. It is located in the heart of the French Cevennes National Park, only around 100km away from the Med- iterranean coast. This oasis of natural splendour is often referred to as one of Europe’s last remaining “wild corners”: the scenery is characterised by high mountains, deep ravines, tenebrous grottoes, untamed rivers, isolated mountain villages and uninhabited pla- teaus. New format, less weight Already before the take-over, the plant was filling carbonated mineral water in 0.33 and 1.15l PET bottles on two lines. One of the first goals of the new proprietor family was to replace the ailing small format by a 0.5l container and to fill both sizes on a single line. At the same time, the client wished to retain the design of the popular 1.15l customised bottle, and the paper labels as well – a rather unusual choice for PET containers. Ogeu also wanted to save weight at the preforms. So the group got in touch with Krones: the new line was supposed to be able to fill and package both formats cost-efficiently under the specified preconditions. Initially, Ogeu was thinking of an ErgoBloc L, in which the labeller is located between the blow-moulder and the filler: “Krones is the only vendor on the market that has mastered this technology,” comments Jean-Hervé Chassaigne. Because of the cold-glue labelling, however, Ogeu and Krones then opted for a Contiform Bloc with a directly coupled modularised labeller downstream of the filler. “We nonetheless achieved our goal of running the wet end with just a single operator,” explains Jean-Hervé Chassaigne. Together with the people at Krones’ container design team Ogeu took a long hard look at the 1.15l con- tainer, and at the base and the neck finish reduced the weight from 34 to 30g. The change-over to a short-neck closure produced additional savings. Short manufacturing and installation times After three months of manufactur- ing time, installation of the new line had already begun. “A mere three weeks later, the line was ready for commission- ing,” explains plant manager Mickael Ferreira, and Jean-Hervé Chassaigne CEO Jean-Hervé Chassaigne is carrying on the Ogeu Group’s family tradition in the third generation.