Tetra Pak sees growth amid challenging 2014

THE past year was challenging according to Tetra Pak, but it managed net sales of €10.9 billion, an increase of 1.7% from 2013. Strong growth in Capital Equipment and Technical Sales offset poor performance in packaging material. ​

“Against the backdrop of a tough year, with slower packaging material growth than originally expected, we saw clear evidence that our business strategy is working. Capital Equipment sales reached almost €2 billion and Technical Sales topped €1 billion for the first time in the company’s history. Our processing business closed the year with a record high order backlog, up 20% compared with the end of 2013. And we saw a significant increase in sales of our advanced packing formats: 7.1 billion more packs reached the shelves in 2014 than in 2013, offering customers optimal functionality and differentiation,” said Tetra Pak president and CEO Dennis Jönsson.

Packaging Solutions

The Packaging Solutions business reported net sales of €9.4 billion, 0.9% higher than in 2013. Packaging material volumes touched 180 billion packs, slightly ahead of the 178 billion packs sold in 2013. Capital Equipment  revenues rise 6.4% year on year. Technical Sales climbed nearly 11%, of which almost 30% comes from service contracts, as more and more customers recognise the value of proactive maintenance, stable performance and predictable costs, according to the company.​

Of the company’s advanced format, most demand was for the family pack segment, where Tetra Brik® Aseptic​ (TBA) Slim and Tetra Brik® Aseptic Edge, each with new generation openings, saw annual sales climb 42% and 55% respectively. In portion packs, Tetra Prisma® Aseptic ​set the pace, with year-on-year growth of more than 38%, or 2.1 billion packages.​

Processing Solutions

It was a good year for the Processing Solutions business owed to strong demand in the milk powder and cheese processing sectors. Net sales increased by almost 7% year-on-year, driven by double digit improvements in South Asia, East Asia & Oceania and in Greater China, and buoyed by Tetra Pak’s first quarter acquisition of Switzerland-based Miteco, the world leader in production solutions for carbonated soft drinks.

The company reaped benefit from the 2013 acquisition of Danish filtration technology specialist, DSS Silkesborg, whose expertise and reputation played a key role in securing the largest Processing order in Tetra Pak’s history, a dairy and whey powder plant in Germany. ​