FDBusiness.com

PET liquid packaging solutions provider Sidel has secured three new contracts from Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling (HBC) in Nigeria, Russia and Belarus.

Coca-Cola HBC is currently operating four Sidel lines at its Moscow facility, and will be supplied with a new line that includes a Sidel Matrix Combi, a Sidel Matrix Labeller, a mixer, two packers, a handle applicator, a conveyor, a linear palletiser and a stretch wrapper. The line will produce 500ml and 1,500ml PET bottles at a rate of 45,000 and 33,500 bottles an hour respectively.

Sidel will also provide training for Coca-Cola’s operators for two weeks, as well as on-site technical support for a period of six months and ongoing spare parts as well as maintenance support.

In February, Coca-Cola HBC also ordered Sidel equipment for its plant in Minsk, Belarus. The line, comprising the mechanical pressure level Sidel Eurostar filler for bottles and its accompanying Sidel rollfed labeller, has completed acceptance tests, and is ready to produce 9,000 2l bottles an hour.

Coca-Cola HBC will also install Sidel’s new bottling line at its facility in Ikeja, Nigeria for the production of carbonated soft drinks. The line will manufacture 500ml PET bottles at a capacity of 42,000 bottles an hour and 1,500ml bottles at 22,000 bottles per hour. The Installation process is expected to start this month, while the first products will be offered in early July.

Coca-Cola HBC engineering director Costin Barbu said that the company works with partners like Sidel to find new ways to improve packaging, creating value for the firm and its customers.

“The quality and safety of our beverages are our highest priority, which is why packaging is so vital. At the same time as protecting the liquid, we want our bottles to stay attractive across the supply chain and on the supermarket shelf, and offer a good consumer experience thereafter,” Barbu added.