New bottle, new auspices

WHEN the sales figures for natural mineral water are soaring by up to 25% within just one month, this may have quite a number of reasons – However, when this happens just shortly after a new brand image has been introduced, it’s more than likely that the success is rooted in the new PET container design, isn’t it?

The spa of Fuensanta located near the Atlantic coast in northern Spain has been known for more than 170 years. Quite a long history, which was about to undergo a major change in 2014. This was because the mineral water bottlers, still suffering from the global financial crisis, were facing some major difficulties: fierce competition from dealer’s brands, high energy costs, quantitative strategy, an inadequate ability to adapt to changes on the market and to make investments in new technologies – these all combined to impair corporate success. It was just the value of its brand and the top quality of the water sold that had come through all of this unharmed.

Goals defined and achieved

The mineral water bottlers were helped in extricating themselves from this unpropitious situation by Global SMM 2009 S.L., under the ownership of José Miguel Fernández Rodríguez and José Luis Fernández Martín-Caro. The proprietors put a new corporate culture and an altered strategic focus in place and to good use. As President José Luis Fernández Martín-Caro explains: “We’d set ourselves the goals of internationalising our business by upsizing exports, of repositioning the brand by means of new matching containers in a more contemporary design, and upgrading the plant’s technological equipment to the latest state of the art.”

And Fuensanta achieved all of this within a mere two years:

- Sales had already risen by 17% in 2015. Exports – to Mexico, China, the Arab Emirates or the USA, for example – now add up to almost one tenth of total turnover.

- Its new, top-quality container design has enabled Fuensanta to differentiate itself distinctively from its competitors’ products, both on the shop shelves and in prestigious restaurants.

- The PET containers designed specifically for Fuensanta are filled with medicinal waters, using the latest state of the art available on the market: an ErgoBloc L.

The line handles 21,000 bottles an hour (Photo: Krones)

Shortly after the takeover in April 2014, Fuensanta lost no time in tackling the tasks on hand with hard-headed rigour: the company commissioned the outside designer Jorge Lorenzo from the Diseño y Comunicación Visual Agency to sketch a draft for a new container shape. “The goals here were quite obvious: to be strikingly different from its market environment, and to match the visual appearance of the containers (which had up till then looked exactly the same as all the others) to their contents – meaning to the quality of the medicinal water they are filled with,” to quote Director General Esther Cueli Vicente. This was also intended to rejuvenate the term of “medicinal water”, which had been in use since 1846.

A short time later, Fuensanta also got in touch with three vendors, including Krones, to talk about a new filling technology. Back in November 2015, Krones and Fuensanta signed a preliminary agreement, and from then on joined forces in developing the new container. Krones was given the 2D drawing of the bottles and translated this into 3D shapes. Following several small test runs in the Neutraubling Plant with a variety of sample bottles, the final shape had then been arrived at.

The still mineral water for sale in retailing outlets is now offered in a standardised bottle shape in the sizes of 0.33 litres, 0.5 litres and 1.5 litres. All three containers are blue, grooved and one of their most striking features is the relatively long bottle neck. They are reminiscent of an apothecary’s bottle of olden times – which is precisely what the designers had in mind when they opted for this shape: in view of its health-boosting properties, you see, the Fuensanta medicinal water used to be sold through apothecary’s shops.

In addition to the new standard shapes, further variants were likewise created: the 0.33-litre container is also available with sportscaps and for children with drawings of the wild animals which can in fact be found in the plant’s surroundings. For the HoReCa market (hotels, restaurants, catering), moreover, another two 1.0-litre containers were created in premium design with a glass effect (excellence category) for both still and carbonated mineral water.

The new container is reminiscent of an apothecary’s bottle – which is precisely what the designers had in mind when they opted for this shape (Photo: Krones)

Production halted for a mere five days

Once the containers and labels had been completely redesigned, Fuensanta went about modernising its bottling operations. For this purpose, the company placed an order with Krones for an ErgoBloc L wet-end block in November 2015, with commissioning swiftly completed by June 2016.

The system is now handling 21,000 bottles an hour (with reference to the 1.5-litre containers) and replaces an old, conventional wet end. “One aspect of major importance in this project was the line’s felicitous layout,” emphasises Plant Manager Nicolás Villarejo Ardisana. The ErgoBloc L is accommodated in a separately enclosed cleanroom with filtered air. “Thanks to this layout, we were able to install the ErgoBloc L without interrupting the entire production operation. For linking the new block up to the dry end, the line was halted for only five days. This short time window was especially important since commissioning took place in summer, that is to say during the peak season,” he says.

The process-engineering kit comprises a Carboflow carbonator and a VarioClean CIP system, and is accommodated in a separate room. For its container production, Fuensanta needs a total of six different moulds, which are kept in two Mouldstar mould-change trolleys.

Packaging is handled by the existing dry end accommodated in an adjacent hall and producing either 12-bottle cartons or 6-bottle shrink-wrapped packs.

The medicinal water is now filled in PET bottles, using the latest state of the art available on the market: an ErgoBloc L. 

Intensive planning and preparatory phases

“This project involved a lot of work, both in the planning and in the preparatory periods. But thanks to the really good groundwork beforehand, installation and commissioning went off very quickly and without any problems,” says Esther Cueli Vicente. “The ErgoBloc L permits us to unite three machines in a single system. Its small footprint saves above all space. But it’s not least the quality, reduced energy consumption and the system’s high output right from the very first minute that all testify to Krones’ excellence,” she continues.

These advantages can also, of course, be meaningfully quantified:

- As early as six months after commissioning, the line achieved an average efficiency level of over 90%.

- Power consumption was cut by 25% compared to that of the old line.

- For each format change-over, Fuensanta needs less than one hour.

- During change-overs, dead times that used to be the rule for fine-tuning the machines are avoided.

- Thanks to rigorously performed maintenance, Fuensanta is now well on its way to becoming a “zero-defect operation”.

“What we particularly appreciate is not least the very amicable, cordial and mutually supportive relationship we have with Krones’ staff,”  says Esther Cueli Vicente (Photo: Krones)

After-sales service support was yet another crucial reason tipping the scales in favour of Krones: “The way the Krones people work, how they handle inquiries, long-term planning for preventive maintenance routines, and the huge fund of expertise Krones’ service staff can draw upon – all of these are reasons explaining why we’re getting precisely what we need at any given time,” says the Director General. “What we particularly appreciate is not least the very amicable, cordial and mutually supportive relationship we have with Krones’ staff,” she adds.

Now that the new line has put in place the foundations for a reliable, less expensive production operation, Fuensanta is in a position to make some highly ambitious plans for the years ahead:

- Firmly anchoring its position as the Number One on the market for natural mineral waters in the  Principality of Asturias

- Further improving its current ranking on the national market, so as to reach a place among the Top 10 best waters in the years ahead

- Establishing exports as a strong earner and upsizing them to more than 20%

- Achieving overall growth of 100% by 2018, and of 200% in the long term (by 2024), based on sales achieved in 2014

“The ErgoBloc L symbolises our aspiration of upgrading Fuensanta’ status as one of the leading quality brands among the natural mineral waters, both on a national and international level,” says Esther Cueli Vicente. “A big ‘Thank You’ goes to Krones for how they’ve supported us in making our dreams come true.”