26/05/2016
The event took place in Mexico City from 17 - 20 May, with Sidel presenting its latest developments and services in PET liquid packaging to support producers in Mexico and neighbouring countries.
The beverage market in Mexico has remained strong over the past few years, with water and JNSDIT performing particularly well, achieving sales of 8 billion units and 12 billion units respectively in 2015. Growth forecasts for these two categories are also the biggest, with a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 5.6 per cent for water and 3.8 per cent for JNSDIT from 2015-2019. PET is already well established as the country's most popular packaging material and continues to grow, with a CAGR of 3.3 per cent forecast for the same period.[1]
Within this dynamic and changing marketplace, Sidel highlighted its latest developments through which customers in Latin America can capitalise on the opportunities presented. This included a focus on complete lines, enabling delivery of customised line solutions for beverage producers to optimise performance at a lower TCO (total cost of ownership). The company discussed how a holistic approach to production is key to increasing performance and longevity. The best solution goes beyond the equipment and starts at the very beginning of the process, with technical know-how and packaging expertise that comes from a full solution partner. A complete line solution involves packaging development, flexible and reliable equipment, tailored line design, efficient line supply and ramp-up, smart data and Sidel Services™, ensuring that the investment meets the objectives today and tomorrow.
Sidel's expertise has successfully featured in several recent projects in Mexico. These include the supply of two Sidel Matrix blowers over two years for Alpla to optimise its PET-blowing capacities
in the country. The investment allowed the company to produce bottles for the full range of Coca-Cola branded products on behalf of the leading bottler in Latin America. Sidel also worked with Innomex, part of Corporativo Fragua, to provide production flexibility and efficiency when the company decided to start production of its own still and carbonated water. This included the development of a new bottle design, saving 30 per cent of PET raw material compared to the third party-supplied original bottles. Having determined to expand production, Jugos del Valle, a Mexican producer of fruit juices and beverages, also turned to Sidel, investing in two hot-fill Sidel Combis in less than two years. The company is now producing an isotonic drink, along with a ready-to-drink tea in various formats, including 500ml, 600ml and 1-litre PET bottles. Another important project in Latin America was for Brazilian dairy producer Jussara. The company's UHT milk is standing out on the shelves in a market dominated by carton as it is packaged in PET bottles produced on a Sidel aseptic complete line.
Commenting on Sidel's participation at the event in Mexico City, Nelson Falavina, Sidel's Vice President Latin America, said - "The opportunities for growth in the Mexican market are considerable, prompted by rising health awareness, changing consumer habits, new product development and continued growth in consumption."
Luis Castellanos, Sales Director, added - "In exhibiting at Expo Pack 2016 in Mexico, Sidel once again embraced the opportunity to meet and discuss with our customers the challenges they are currently facing in this dynamic marketplace. We welcomed the chance to demonstrate the latest technologies and developments for PET packaging within the beverage industry. These allow us to better support our customers by providing innovative bottling solutions in PET to meet current and anticipated consumer trends."
The four-day Expo Pack 2016 event took place at the Expo Bancomer - the exhibition/conference venue of international quality in Santa Fe, Mexico City, from 17 - 20 May, 2016. More than 1,000 international exhibitors from 20 countries participated this year, with an estimated 25,000 producers from over 30 countries visiting, making it the leading packaging and processing technology event in all of Latin America.