Founded in 1992, Beijing Huiyuan Beverage and Food Group Co. is China's largest producer of pure fruit beverages. The company sells the widest range of products in the country,having created and developed over 500 kinds of fruit-based beverages.
The company's figures are truly impressive. ACNielsen reports that in the first nine months of 2006 Huiyuan sold 42 percent (by volume) of all pure fruit juices and 40.3 percent of all nectars nationwide, making it the undisputed leader in this beverage category. Recognized for its quality guarantee, the Huiyuan brand has won several awards from various associations including the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China.
In 20 facilities located throughout the country, Huiyuan has state-of-the-art technology and equipment to process fruit and to package beverages. The company has over 60 cold aseptic lines, including 14 of the world's most advanced lines for PET.
In autumn 2006, Huiyuan purchased a complete aseptic line from Sidel for cold filling PET bottles (500 ml) with juices, nectars and teas. The 36,000 bph line includes an SBO 20 Universal blow molding machine, an FMi aseptic filler, a Rollquattro F15 labeling machine, conveyors and palletizers.
Sidel's support has been crucial at all stages, from layout definition to installation (completed in spring 2007), commissioning and maintenance. Dedicated to packaging fruit and vegetable juices, the line was installed in the recently built Yancheng facility in the Jiangsu province. Phase one of the new plant construction is now complete.
Ultimately, the plant will feature 39,000 square meters of floor space at an overall cost of around one billion Yuan (over 130 million US dollars). The Yancheng facility will employ 300 people to make products for the eastern, central and northern Chinese markets. Once production starts up, the facility is expected to generate an annual sales volume of around 400 million Yuan (over 50 million US dollars) and will contribute taxes of around 30 million Yuan (4 million US dollars) to the local government.
Sidel responded rapidly and efficiently to the customer's exacting specifications by supplying custom-made solutions,machinery and technology for the state-of-the-art aseptic packaging line. But most importantly, Sidel provided key service support and has helped Huiyuan gain a significant competitive edge on the market. The company is now prepared to meet the challenge of an expected 14 percent growth rate on the tea and juice segments in 2008.
Today, cold aseptic filling is the most advanced filling technology in the world. The fact that Huiyuan has used it for PET bottles since 2001 is a sign of the pioneering spirit driving the powerful Chinese group. Cold aseptic filling guarantees the security and quality of the final product by protecting its color, taste, smell and appearance. In addition, higher output rates are possible with this technology. In fact, cold aseptic filling can boost outputs to 36,000 bph,compared to 24,000 bph on a traditional hot filling line.
