BOTTLING / FILLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 05/23 www.petpla.net 34 Romania’s secret to bottling and packaging beverages Keeping natural effervescence In Romania, history, culture and traditions are perfectly intertwined with the natural beauties of the environment, which represent a precious resource for human health and well-being. With a third of the mineral and thermal waters of Europe, Romania boasts the presence of 70 resorts, where it is possible to treat various illnesses. The merit of this wealth derives from the geological structure of its mountains. In the north-western part of the country, the pure water springs of the City of Carei, in the county of Satu Mare, have ensured the development and success of Alconor Company, a leading company in the production of beverages and mineral water. The company has distinguished itself in Romania and abroad thanks to the ability to embrace new challenges, to seize the new opportunities offered by the continuous changes in the market. To achieve and maintain high quality levels, within the production lines of the Carei and Voluntari (Bucharest) plants, Alconor uses different types of machines supplied by SMI, such as rotary stretch-blow moulders for the production of PET bottles, within fully automatic bottling and packaging lines which also include secondary and tertiary packaging systems and conveyor lines. The company’s headquarters have been located, since its foundation in 1999, in the city of Carei, in the county of Satu Mare (north-western part of Romania), in the region of Transylvania. Initially Alconor only produced soft drinks, but, in 2014, 15 years after the first plant, it decided to expand the business by inaugurating a new production plant in Voluntari-Bucharest, where three modern fully automated bottling lines are currently installed. Today, Alconor Company is one of the most active and competitive companies in Romania in the production of soft drinks and water and has transformed itself from a family business to an industrial company appreciated at national level, the production of which is carried out entirely in the two factories in Carei and Bucharest, on an area of 7,000m2 and then stored on a total storage area of 15,000m2. From the initial activity of bottling carbonated soft drinks in PET containers, the product range has expanded to spring water, energy drinks and soft drinks. The Romanian company markets both products with its own registered brands, created and developed in over two decades of activity, and private label products of national and international partners. Together with Beverage Drink Srl, the group company specialised in distribution, and the support of reliable partners, Alconor Company perfectly covers 99% of the territory of Romania, easily reaching almost all counties. The company is able to satisfy even very high production requirements, through a daily load capacity of 1,000 t and thanks to five distribution centers in Carei, Chișineu Criș, Târnăveni, Timișoara and Bucharest. In 2019, the Romanian company exceeded 200 million litres of water and soft drinks produced, the equivalent of 10,000 trucks. From that date, the annual production of Alconor is around 250 million litres, an objective achieved thanks to the continual investments in new technologies that allow Alconor to constantly improve its performance at an industrial and financial level. The number of employees, which today sees the presence of around 300 people, is also constantly growing. Transformation and investments The diversification of the products offered by Alconor made it necessary to install various bottling and packaging lines; furthermore, the objective of enviNorbert Varga, CEO of Alconor Company SFP 30 Ergon stretch film wrapper
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