In this edition of the Spotlight, KHS tells us how its canning line technology has been utilized for drinks brand Mattoni 1873’s mineral water.
Once one of the most famous mineral waters in the world, Mattoni 1873 has since firmly arrived in the 21st century. What’s more, as the biggest distributor of non-alcoholic beverages in Central Europe, it’s shaping the future regarding circularity –with the help of high-tech from KHS.
Shared story of success
Mattoni 1873 and KHS have shared a bond for over 30 years now; since the Pasquales took the helm at the start of the 1990s, plenty of new equipment has been ordered from the Dortmund systems supplier – from a stretch blow moulder for the plant in Moravia through to Kisters packers in South Bohemia and a CombiKeg line for Poděbradka mineral water; from Central Bohemia to a bottle washing machine for the Pepsi bottling plant in Prague.
For many years the two companies have also engaged in a regular close exchange of ideas and information on topics such as technological innovation, changes in consumer behavior, market developments and regulation. Besides the trusting partnership between Mattoni 1873 and KHS and the positive response to comparable KHS reference projects on the market, the newcomer to the beverage can segment was primarily prompted to invest by the existence of a dedicated local KHS office, as Lutfia Volfová, PR manager and spokesperson for Mattoni, states.
“This allowed our specialists to actively communicate with the team at KHS on all levels at each phase in the project’s implementation. This was an extremely convincing argument for us – that our partners were able to react quickly and personally at all times without having to overcome any language barriers.” KHS’ local presence in the Czech Republic is assured by no fewer than 18 employees who are able to carry out layouting, installation and general commissioning, among other work, independently.
Entrepreneur and NMWE president
The most recent acquisition is a turnkey canning line from KHS, on which mineral water is being filled into recyclable beverage cans for the very first time in the Czech Republic. Moreover, these are already made of around 70% recycled aluminum.
“Our new, ultramodern system adds the final container category to our portfolio that has been lacking to date,” smiles executive president and company founder Alessandro Pasquale. “We can now supply the market for non-alcoholic beverages with all styles of beverage packaging. And we’re now also in the position to supply our home market with beverages from the licensed Pepsi portfolio more easily, whose canned products we previously had to bring in from outside the country.”
Pasquale not only runs the family firm; he’s also the president of Natural Mineral Waters Europe or NMWE. In this capacity he not only wishes to make the Czech beverage industry circular and sustainable but also that of the entire European Union.
In addition to an Innofill Can C can filler with an output of up to 20,000 containers per hour, the new KHS line includes a palletizer and a depalletizer, a blending system, a tunnel pasteurizer and two shrink packers with and without trays. “All told, up to Page 3 of 7 twelve different formats and a huge variety of products are processed on our machines,” says Lubomir Neubauer, area sales manager for the Czech Republic and Slovakia at KHS.
“We’ve thus configured the system so that it gives the customer maximum flexibility. The Innofill Can C especially that, unlike the high-performance Innofill Can DVD can filler most commonly used to date caters for the medium capacity range, is the perfect choice here.”
This content was sponsored by KHS.
