Michiel Arnoldus, SenseOctober 2019

Fruit Juice Packaging plant for West Africa

Financed & commisioned by: IFCPresentation enabled by: CBI

The study has focused on 4 types of products & 3 markets

1. Dried fruit

2. Puree & Pulp & Juice

3. IQF (Individually Quick Frozen)

4. Fresh cut fruit salads

The juice value chain

Fruit Processors

Concentratetraders and

BlendingHouses

Juice Packers Distributorwholesalers Retailers

Sells 2nd, 3rd or 4th grade fruit to processors

Fruit Farmers

Processes fruit into juice, concentrate and pulp and sells to packers and blenders around the world

Blending houses mix cheap juices, concentrates and flavours to deliver a consistent product at the lowest possible price

Beverage packer mixes and dilutes juice, pulp and other ingredients with 80-85% water and pack it for sale to wholesalers and retailers.

Wholesalers distribute packed juice products to retails. Margins on shelf stable products are lower (10-15%)Because distribution costs are lower.

Retailers buy juicefrom wholesalers or direct from juice packers at about 650FCFA /L

Raw material Market

The difference between a fruit processor and a beverage packer

• The fruit processor processes fruit into juices or pulps.

• Product is fruit solids. The water is extracted

• This is usually concentrated and packed frozen or in asceptic200L drums

• Sell to Blending houses or directly to juice packersaround the world

Production depends on seasonal raw material supply

• The juice packer buys ingredients• Blends them to best-taste-least-cost recipe• 80-85% of final product is added water• Preserves them by pasteurisation, UHT,

preservatives or cold chain• Packs them in UHT bricks, PET bottles or glass

Production is market oriented-(quantity, quality, shelf life and price) The market has different seasons: Holidays, summer etc.

From tree to consumer? Why can’t you do it all?

• Fruit processing is seasonal and localised, depending on fruit supply

• A packer needs to operate at least 1 shift, 300 daysa year to cover fixed equipment costs

• Without expensive equipment for pasteurising or UHT, juice has a short shelflife or requires cold chain.

• The juice market is a global market; can youcompete with least cost best taste recipes which are shelf stable?

• Less labour means better hygiene, especially at the packing phase!

Beverage Packaging Plants

Source: Tetra Pak

Key facts about beverage packing: Packaging

PET Bottles• Suitable for pasterised, hotfilled and fresh

juice products

• Shelf life from 1 week to 2 months

• Size from 100ml-10litre

• Requires a self adhesive label

• Bottles are bulky to transport

• Larger operations blow bottles from preformson site

• No minimum scale

UHT Asceptic Carton• Only for UHT-asceptic product• Boxes are formed and filled on line• Does not require refridgeration• Shelf stable for 6 months to 1 year

• Minimum scale is 50 000 litres per day

Key facts about beverage packing: Water

• Water makes up 80-85% of product so water treatment is essential• Water for rinsing bottles and cleaning equipment should be ozonated• Water for addition to product should be deoxegenated• Free from particles, metals like Iron and Magnesium• Water should be neither hard nor soft• Water should be free from odor or colour• Free from microbes

Reverse osmosis water treatment plant

Key facts about beverage packing: Labour

• Larger automated packing lines minimise labour for 3 reasons• Labour is the limiting factor in terms of speed • Labour costs contribute to the unit cost of product• Human contact with the product or packaging increases the risk of re-

contamination of the finished product

Key facts about beverage packing: Infrastructure and services

• Beverage packing is market orientated, so the factory should belocated close to the market• Reliable electricity supply is essential for raw material cold storage

and to avoid lost production• A suitable source of water is essential not only for bottling but

cleaning and rinsing• Essential equipment:

1. Water purification plant2. Generator3. Compressor4. Cleaning plant to wash and sterilise the line between batches

Semi-automatic bottling line

• Scale 100 bottles to 1000 bottles per hour• Rinsing of bottles, capping, labeling and packing are done by hand

• Staff required for packaging: 1 Operator and 8-10 semi-skilled

Blending tank Pasteuriser Buffer Tank Semi automatic filler

Fully automated rotary filling line

• Scale 1000 – 5000 bottles per hour• Fully auto-mated:

• Bottles are rinsed, filled, capped and date stamped in one process

• An automatic labeler applies labels• Bottles are shrink wrapped and paletised

Staff required for bottling: 1 operator and 1 assistant

Mixing tanks Buffer tank Pasteriser Buffer tank Rotary rinser filler capper Automatic labeler Shrink wrapper

TetraPak fully automated beverage packing line

Scale: 50 000 litres to 150 000 litres per day• Staff required for operation: 1 operator and 1 assistant