A leading UAE water bottling company has introduced new technology that helps increase shelf life and cuts manufacturing costs.

The breakthrough ThermoShape lightweight hot-fill technology was integrated recently into the production lines of Al Ain Mineral Water Company, a fully owned entity of Abu Dhabi-based food and beverage company
Agthia Group.

The first ThermoShape integrated high-speed blow-and-fill complete packaging line in the world went into commercial operation at Al Ain Water at the beginning of November, the bottler said. The line was designed, commissioned and installed by Plastipak Packaging Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Plastipak Holdings Inc.

US-based Plastipak is a world leader in the design and manufacture of plastic containers for the food, beverage, and consumer products industries. The company operates more than 20 plants in the US, South America and Europe.

Good shelf life
“Bottles produced and filled using the ThermoShape process have slightly positive internal pressure, providing superior vertical load resistance for packaging and distribution,” a statement said.  “Using Plastipak’s patented technology, ThermoShape bottles can achieve shelf life of up to 12 months at ambient temperature without bottle deformation due to standard loss of oxygen in the bottle headspace and water loss through bottle PET walls.”  The line features globally patented in-line heat-based reshaping of bottles after they are hot-filled.

Agthia CEO Ilias Assimakopoulos said: “Al Ain Water’s investment in the new first-class ThermoShape technology will enable Agthia to advance further in line with our product diversification strategy. In addition, this investment is an added confirmation of our commitment to continuously deliver innovative high-quality products to our customers.”

Al Ain Water general manager Fasahat Beg said: “This investment will enable us to enter the value-added beverage segments such as sports drinks and juices, while using at least 30 per cent less PET than the existing ‘hot fill’ bottling lines in the market. This in turn means delivery on both cost and energy savings for the company and further demonstrates our corporate social responsibility commitment towards reducing our environmental impact.”

Key advantages
Plastipak’s director of technology integration, Jean-Guy Delage, said: “We are proud to partner with Agthia and Al Ain Water in the first commercialisation of our ThermoShape technology. ThermoShape offers key advantages over alternative packaging options such as glass container hot-filling, PET bottle aseptic filling or the use of preservatives and cold steriliser for the distribution of non-refrigerated high-acid sensitive drinks. It uses low-risk and well-proven hot-filling technology and thus requires less capital investment compared to aseptic filling. It also allows now for the use of lightweight and panel-less PET bottles with full design freedom compared with traditional PET hot-fill bottle, and the system easily fits into a small footprint space allowing for seamless conversion of existing glass or PET bottle hot-fill lines.”

Agthia fully owns and operates four entities in various food and beverage segments: Al Ain Mineral Water Company, the UAE’s second-largest bottled drinking water manufacturer and local producer and distributor of Capri-Sun juices; Grand Mills for Flour and Feed Company, a producer of high-quality flour and animal feed products; Al Ain Vegetable Processing and Canning Factory, maker of tomato paste and frozen vegetables; Al Ain Food and Beverages (Egypt), which produces tomato paste, frozen vegetable  and fruit puree.