Advantages of the essential

22 December 2011



Global activity shows that the aseptic cartons sector is both buoyant and confident, in spite, or perhaps because of the tough conditions facing consumers. David Longfield reports


In troubled economic times, when consumers are looking to get the best value they can for what they spend, many turn to the tried and tested names and products they know they can rely on.

It’s a factor that plays into the hands of the aseptic cartons sector, producers of packaging typically used for everyday essential such as milk and dairy, juices and nectars, soups and sauces. “With the current climate, if there’s one sector you want to be in, it’s these stable categories,” says Tetra Pak UK & Ireland product manager Mike Jarvis.

At Norway-based Elopak, director of sustainability and market communication Sveinar Kildal says: “Cheaper is getting cheaper, and premium more premium. Many markets are becoming more price sensitive, and in the next few years I think conditions will get much tougher.

But food and beverage are among the basic things we all need, so we are less affected than general industry.”

Kildal also points out that the trend for home consumption is still growing – beneficial for packaging as a whole, and specifically for beverage packaging, as wellas soups and cooking additives.

“We are seeing an increase in elderly populations in mature markets, but higher numbers of younger consumers in developing markets,” says Jarvis.

Developing opportunities

In July 2011, Switzerland-based SIG Combibloc announced the start of operations at its new plant in Campo Largo, in the southern Brazilian state of Parana. The company predicts Brazil will be one of the biggest future markets for beverage cartons, and has invested €90m in what will in time become a 130,000m2 site.

Ricardo Rodriguez, cluster head South America at SIG Combibloc, said at the time of the announcement: “In the past year alone, our business in Brazil has increased by 60 per cent. That means our new factory is working at full capacity from the start.”

The Campo Largo plant will begin with a production capacity of one billion carton packs, with plans for this to double to two billion carton packs in two years.

According to the company, in 2010 the volume of products in aseptic carton packs in Brazil was about 8 billion litres – 75% of the total volume in South America. Annual growth of 6.4% is anticipated, and the volume is expected to hit 10 billion litres by as early as 2014. The plant will initially focus on its medium-sized combiblocStandard, combiblocMidi and combifitMidi carton packs, with smaller formats targeting the 125ml-350ml sector.

Also in Brazil, Tetra Pak is working towards achieving its environmental targets in conjunction with thermoplastics and biopolymers producer Braskem. Tetra Pak says it is committed to reducing its environmental impact across the value chain, and is looking into the use of alternatives to aluminium, such as green PE.

“One important area of activity is to increase the share of renewable material in our packages and by 2020 we aim to have products in our portfolio that are 100% based on renewable resources,” the company states. As a first step, the company launched plastics caps produced from renewable resources (sugar cane), in Brazil in August 2011.

Tetra Pak also expanded its China operations in 2011, announcing in November the opening of its ninth worldwide product development centre in Shanghai, in response to the rapidly growing and diverse requirements of the country’s beverage and dairy markets.

“The PDC is designed to support our customers’ formula research, help shorten their product development time – from the laboratory to pilot production – and to reduce product development costs,” said president Tetra Pak China, Hudson Lee.

Nearer to home, in November, Elopak announced the construction of a 2,400m2 board coating line extension to its existing converting factory in Aarhus, Denmark. The new facility will increase the company's capacities by up to 70,000 tonnes per year of quality board, intended to supply the companyfs Nordic markets and its European customer base.

"Our main products are on the premium segment, where the demand for high quality board and print is very important," says Sveinar Kildal. "The demand for differing shapes and sizes also calls for increased flexibility."

With its main raw material suppliers nearby in Sweden, the company's new coating line will improve reliability and environmental standards. Installation of a new state-of-the-art coating machine is planned for early in the third quarter 2012. Elopak's Netherlands converting plant, Elocoat, will supervise production and operation of the new line, which is expected to be fully operational by the beginning of Q4 2012.

Leading Edge

In November, market leader Tetra Pak launched the Tetra Brik Aseptic (TBA) 1000 Edge: a technological revamp of "the world's most widely used drinks carton". Key to the design, the top panel of the new pack slopes down to the front, providing an extra surface fully visible to consumers. But the new angled shape also enables space-efficient stacking, so that 750 packages can be stacked on one pallet compared to 720 for the TBA with SlimCap - a 4% improvement. The high back edge takes the load, minimising risk of damage to the wide LightCap 30 closure.

The company says TBA 1000 Edge requires low initial investment. Producers can make use of existing processing and secondary packaging equipment - it is available using Tetra Pak A3/Flex iLine solutions with the DIMC applicator incorporated in the filling machine. TBA 1000 Edge will be available globally from spring 2012, the portfolio expanding with a range of popular portion package sizes later in the year. It will be offered with green PE closures during 2012, the company says, and a 500ml version will be available from 2013.

"For 2012 we want to get new packaging on the ground that will facilitate growth going forward," says Mike Jarvis. "We've seen rising food, energy and raw material costs, so we want to be able to offer good value, by value engineering what we already have and looking to see where innovation has a place, always focusing on reducing costs."

Sveinar Kildal says that streamlining operations will be important in reducing costs. "Government-led initiatives to reduce packaging weight especially in the UK, are a definite opportunity as retailers look to improve their performance," he says. "Retailer brands are growing and becoming more sophisticated, and retailers want to reduce carbon dioxide and transport costs while having a larger range with more packs in the same shelf space."

UK moves: SIG Combibloc

In 2011, SIG Combibloc marked the 10th anniversary of the launch of combifit, its slender development of the standard carton pack, with the eye-catching angled top. Now available in a range of five sizes between 150ml and 1,500ml, the most recent development in April 2011 saw Sunraysia becoming the first in the UK market to use the new combifitMidi 750ml with screwcap.

Other developments for SIG Combibloc in the UK included the October launch of a new range of premium desserts produced with its long-term partner Kerry Foods for Tesco, packaged in combiblocStandard 500ml aseptic carton packs.

The company utilised its 750ml combiblocStandard food carton pack for the first time in the UK in November, with the launch of the family-sized Campbell's soup Selection range. The new premium quality, ready-to-serve soup range will also be available in dual 300ml single serve combiblocSmall carton packs.


Elopak’s Elocoat board coating plant in Terneuzen, Netherlands Elocoat board coating Pure-Pak, Slim and Diamond form the core of the Elopak range Elopak Campbell's selected the combiblocStandard 750ml pack for its new premium soups range combiblocStandard The new Tetra Brik Aseptic 1000 Edge, from Tetra Pak Tetra Brik SIG Combibloc has started production at its new plant in Campo Largo, southern Brazil SIG Combibloc Tetra Pak has opened its ninth product development centre in Shanghai Tetra Pak

Elocoat board coating Elocoat board coating
Elopak Elopak
Tetra Brik Tetra Brik
Tetra Pak Tetra Pak
combiblocStandard combiblocStandard
SIG Combibloc SIG Combibloc


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