Research & Development at Sidel is driven by market demand so that technical solutions are based, first and foremost, on customers’ needs. Here’s a look at market trends.
High consumption volume (in liters):
- 2005: 148 bn liters
- 2009: 160 bn liters
But modest growth:
compound annual growth rate (CAGR) amounts to + 2 %
Soft drink package type
High growth for PET bottles (+2.7 % CAGR 05-09)
The drink can category maintains strong niche growth (+1.2 % CAGR 05-09) and is the biggest packaging category by volume.
Soft drinks around the world:
- Soft drinks are mostly consumed in the U.S. (55 % total beverage volume, i.e. 1 of every 2 drinks)
- Widely consumed in Western Europe (40 % of total beverage volume)
- Medium volume (24 %) but high growth (+33 %) in Eastern Europe
- Energy drinks are expected to grow rapidly in Middle East and North America
Packaging plays a key role in product differentiation, and Sidel offers packaging solutions able to catch trends and improve the package.
- Single-serve packaging (3.2 % growth)
- Importance of convenience and “on-the-go” consumption
- New, attractive shapes (design, caps, labels)
- Gimmicks in/on the packaging (second life packaging, talking or singing packaging, glow-in-the-dark, changing colors, gifts and pop-ups)
- Environmentally friendly
- Lightweight and strong
Optimization and streamlining of production lines should help improve the cost efficiency of the final product. Sidel line engineering takes into account all market demands:
- Extended shelf life for carbonated beverages
- Barrier issues to prevent CO2 loss and O2 penetration
- Plastic bottle lightweighting
- Sleeve labeling
- High speed for single serve packaging
- Flexible (multi-format and multi-product) machines and medium speed for medium size packaging
- Equipment that is easy to operate and maintain
- Streamlining of production lines (standardization, automation, modularization)
