Varun Beverages Ltd 2021

The challenge

Since the early nineties, the privately-owned Indian company, RJ Corp, has established its position as a multinational powerhouse with thriving businesses in beverages, fast food restaurants, retail, ice cream and dairy products. Through its operating company, Varun Beverages Ltd., the group has become one of the largest bottling partners for PepsiCo in the world. To remain competitive in the current shift in the Indian market towards more nutritional, beverages, RJ Corp recently decided to diversify its portfolio and put more emphasis on its 100% juices with pulp and ultra-high temperature (UHT) LDP, by increasing its production flexibility.

The solution

RJ Corp eventually chose Sidel’s Aseptic Combi Predis™ with dry preform sterilisation. This technology, approved by the FDA for low-acid production since 2017, allows the producer to switch easily and safely between four UHT milk flavours and various kinds of juice recipes on the same line. This represents a major turning point for all companies in India that are continuing to produce juices in PET bottles with a hot-fill process and milk in cartons.

The outcome

This investment in Sidel’s Aseptic Combi Predis™ marks two major achievements for RJ Corp in India, as it is the company’s first step in aseptic PET bottling and its first experience with dry preform sterilisation. By injecting hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) before the oven phase, Sidel’s patented Predis technology requires no water consumption and significantly reduces the use of chemicals. This is a global lighthouse project for PepsiCo Inc. regarding the processing and bottling of its high-acid Tropicana juice products. The Aseptic Combi Predis also includes Capdis, a dry sterilisation process for caps that optimises the cleaning process and cap handling to avoid deformation and ensure a perfect seal between the cap and bottle.

Given its positive experience and real satisfaction with this installation in Punjab, Varun Beverages Ltd. chose Sidel again for the exact same scope of supply at another of its plants, located in Central-Eastern India.

"Managing both juices and dairy products on the same PET packaging line flexibly was essential for us, and we could only make it happen by producing in aseptic. High-level food safety and hygiene standards were must-have features to answer Pepsi’s demanding quality protocol and pass internal and external validations."

R.J.S. Bagga

Director Technical & Operations at RJ Corp

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