Developed by the Indag company of Eppelheim, Germany, the filling machines have already been in operation in Europe supporting the Capri Sonne and Capri Sun businesses.
Capri Sonne and Capri Sun drinks have been packed in pouches in Germany and the UK for years but the packaging format has never really made a big impact on the beverage market. That is now expected to change as beverage companies see it as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly format for on-the-go drinks.
Wild Flavors and Pouch and Pack Concepts expect the additional line capacity in the US to become available by the end of the first quarter of 2011.
Pouch potential
A recent study conducted by Proactive Worldwide on behalf of Pack Expo organisers PMMI suggested that pouches could double their share of the US beverage packaging market over the next decade. Currently they hold a value of just $545m in the US.
Environmental considerations are expected to be big drivers in the pouch market as the packs are both light and space-efficient, offering big savings in transportation and storage. The PMMI study said the beverage volume transported in a truckload of quart-sized pouches would require nine trucks of glass or plastic bottles.
And it is not just in the beverage market that spouted pouches are being tipped for success. Guala Group, CFD Corporation and Hosokawa Yoko have recently has teamed up to form a joint venture called Cheer Pack North America targeting the emerging spouted flexible packaging market in the US and Canada.
Cheer Pack president Steve Gosling said flexible pouches aimed at healthy and premium products organics, baby food, yoghurt and ice-cream have big potential.
He said: “There isn’t a huge presence in North America for this type of packaging and we believe there is gap in the market that nobody else has yet tapped into,” he said. “Over the next three to four years, we hope to be producing around 100m spouted packages annually.”