Brave, new ketchup world

KETCHUP is an ubiquitous condiment and popular worldwide, and no less in Europe, where ketchup giant H. J. Heinz bottles its eponymous brand and other tomato ketchups brands in Holland, Spain, Russia and Poland – amongst the more than 70 production facilities the American food conglomerate operates worldwide.  With demand steadily rising in Europe, Heinz was faced with a decision on how to upsize its production capacities for ketchup bottling. There was plenty of catching up to do in the Polish market in particular, with only one line operating in it facility in Pudliszki, rated at around 10,000 containers an hour, and only very small quantities being exported from there.

Since there is a general trend towards continuously rising sales of ketchup, Heinz decided in 2008 to single out certain plants as dedicated specialists for ketchup production in regard to the packaging. It was for this reason that a second line for filling glass and polypropylene (PP) special-shaped bottles was installed in Poland. Ketchup continues to be filled in PET containers at plants in Holland and Russia.

Tomato ketchups for Poland produced and filled solely in the Pudliszki plant; the Pudliszki brand accounts for about a third of the 200 tons of ketchup produced every day, with Heinz making up the remaining two-thirds. Ketchup makes up about half of the plant's total output, and the facility also produces a variety of canned vegetables, mustard, hot and cold sauces, ready-to-cook meals and tomato concentrates in various types of packaging.

To upsize its capacity at Pudliszki, H. J. Heinz has installed a complete line to handle an extensive range of containers, both glass and PP bottles, plus a highly disparate range of packages featuring cartons, trays with and without film, all in a single machine supplied by Krones.

The new Krones line involves a hygienically safe and affordable filling technology featuring ultra-accurate weighing filler for cold-filling in conjunction with a double cleanroom assuring a stringent standard of hygiene. As one of the biggest lines for this production output category in Poland, it enables the world's market leader for ketchup to maximise the efficiency of its filling operations.

The installation has an output of up to 21,000 containers an hour, corresponding to 7,200 kilograms an hour or 30,000 tons a year, for filling Heinz Ketchup in glass bottles with filling weights of 342- and 855-grams, and Pudliszki Ketchup in PP containers with filling weights of 480- and 500-grams. In future, containers made from renewable raw materials could also be used. About a third of the ketchup is still being filled in glass bottles, whilst two-thirds are already being sold in plastic containers.

The production output covers the Polish market, but also supplies many European countries like Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Czech Republic, and France. Sophisticated just-in-time logistics render a warehouse superfluous. The trucks are loaded directly from the line; a maximum of 50 pallets (about four hours' production output) can be placed in interim storage.

Cold-filling in a double cleanroom

During technological planning for the new ketchup line, Heinz opted for an Sensometic VP-GW weighing filler with an upstream single-channel Variojet rinser operating with sterile air, all integrated into a cleanroom. This enables Heinz to run product-friendly cold-filling in full microbiological safety and without any preservatives, for a shelf-life of two years for Heinz ketchup and one year for Pudliszki ketchup. The filling temperature is just under 40°C, but is so high only in order to assure the viscosity level required for the filling process.

Cold-filling is the internatiNike