Aseptic blow-fill-cap solution

THE ITALIAN company, Fonti Di Posina, is known for bottling mineral water for the province of Vicenza, but about half of its output also goes to worldwide markets. Its Lissa brand is sold in many countries. Located in the Posina valley, Fonti sources its water from the Italian Alps.

Even as consumer demand for sophisticated beverages has been steadily increasing over the years, the company is expanding its range based on its experience of production and water purity.  In 2000, it was packaging fruit juices and tea for local retailers and private labels, and this is how it earned a reputation in co-packing. At the time, it owned an aseptic bottling line with a capacity of 6,000 bottles per hour. And compared to newer equipment, it wasn’t as energy efficient. These were issues that kept Fonti from expanding its business.

Out with the old

Aiming to become successful both as a water bottler and a co-packer for aseptic filled beverages, Fonti had upgrade. “Our objective was to invest in the latest innovative packaging technology from the market,” said the president of Fonti Di Posina, Matteo Frugani. 

It therefore invested in a new line equipped with a low output, aseptic integrated blow-fill-cap solution with dry decontamination for both preforms and caps which offered high production efficiency.  “There was no room for error and we could not afford a field-test machine.  Sidel has a good reputation – and when we visited the different bottling plants to see the technology in action, we became convinced of the performance of the dry preform decontamination solution,” said Antonio Biella, shareholder of holding company Montecristo, the main owner of Fonti Di Posina. “We felt confident in our choice as this is not a prototype but a proven technology that produces juice drinks, tea and even UHT milk.”  

The Combi Predis™ FMa is the latest blow-fill-cap with dry preform decontamination from Sidel. For Fonti, this new technology will allow lightweighting of 1.5L bottles, and save the company 20% in material costs.  This solution also eliminates bottle rinsing in the process. 

The line was installed in a filling hall built as an extension to the existing bottling plant, its compact and linear footprint simplifying and speeding up the installation process.  Validation of the aseptic process was achieved within two weeks on production of 0.5 litre bottles of tea with the line running at a rate of 12,000 bottles per hour.  

Works for most beverages

With the low-output aseptic blow-fill-cap, the line produces over 40 kinds of recipes for retailers and private labels. Amongst these are teas, fruit juices and energy drinks, with both standard caps and sport caps in a variety of bottle formats. 

“In total, more than a hundred different bottle references will be produced on this line at the end of the year and we target two hundred within two years,” said Agostino Biella, another shareholder of Montecristo.  “As production often needs to be changed several times per day, this investment has made a real difference by reducing the time required to clean and sterilise the machine thereby making changeover faster.  We want to be in the right place, at the right time with the right product,” added Antonio Biella. “This is why we needed very flexible production capabilities that could allow us to produce a very broad range of beverages in different bottle formats, mainly in small batches.”

The Combi Predis™ FMa is the latest blow-fill-cap with dry preform decontamination from Sidel

No need for water

The efficiency of the technology and its contribution to a more sustainable business were other major advantages. Third shareholder of the Montecristo holding, Marco Colombo, explained: “We were really convinced by the dry preform decontamination technology because we no longer have to use peracetic acid or warm water to rinse the bottles. We are now using less than two litres of chemicals per hour and no water to decontaminate preforms and caps. This significant reduction in waste and resources fits perfectly with our vision of protecting the environment while ensuring beverage quality and food safety for our customers.”

Fitted with Sidel’s new ecological oven, the Combi Predis FMa has also reduced energy consumption during the preform heating process. The oven’s optimised configuration requires fewer lamps and fewer heating modules. This has created a saving of 43% in the usage of electricity. 

Lighter at 32 grams

While the installation of the new bottling line was taking place, Fonti Di Posina had been working on a new design for its water bottles, for which the dry preform decontamination technology presents the opportunity to introduce lightweighting. President, Matteo Frugani, explained: “Due to the new solution, we are making tremendous PET savings by reducing the weight of our bottles as they no longer have the thermal constraints associated with the bottle decontamination. For example our 1.5-litre bottle was lightweighted by around 20%, from 39 grams to 32 grams.  We have also eliminated the use of aluminium foil.” 

95% efficient 

The aseptic blow-fill-cap solution is already proving its value, having reached 95% efficiency. With an average production output of 12,000 bottles per hour for 0.5-litre and 1-litre bottles, Fonti Di Posina aims to deliver more than 30 million aseptically filled bottles this year.  The company plans to increase production capacity to 100 million units within the next two years with extra lines.