Owing to its success globally, the company will open a production site north of Mexico City, Mexico in mid-2018.
Kenya, Uganda, Somalia
“The new Bericap site and the Mexican team will ensure we offer our customers a global service to benefit from our technical expertise and innovative developments,” said Christoph Thünemann, group director communications and marketing, Bericap.
The company recently started operations at a warehouse in Nairobi in Kenya, for an order focusing on the Kenya, Uganda and Somalia region.
“In recent years, there has been a strong trend to lightweight closures that serve functionable purposes in PET containers, but these are difficult and inconvenient to handle by consumers,” added Thünemann.
“With the latest product innovations and modifications, Bericap pays more attention to convenience aspects for consumers and differentiation on the shelf.”
The latest additions to its portfolio include NEO 30/17, a weight-optimized closure for neck finish PET 30/25; while for bottlers who want to take advantage of the lightweight neck PET 29/25 but want to focus on consumer convenience, Bericap HexaLite 29/13 is available with rounded and straight knurls, for shelf differentiation.
Tear strip tamper visibility
The firm has also added a hinge cap for small sized bottles for still water to its product portfolio - the SnapCap 26 - a hinge cap pressed on a lightweight PET 26/21 neck. The closure allows users to open the bottle by clipping back the hinged lid by 180°.
Other modifications include a newly designed sports cap Bericap Crystal with a transparent closure body and colored insert. It is available with a tear strip for visible tamper evidence or with bridges, which break at first opening.
Thünemann added most PET bottles used for juices or dairy products have a 38mm neck finish. But from a consumer point of view, drinking from a 33mm neck is easier. Bericap has a 33mm closure that can be used for cold, cold-aseptic or hot filling and is lighter in weight.
For liquid food products, like edible oil or vinegar, it has developed the 2-Flow closure, a shaped pouring orifice to pour a wide flow. This is of interest for example, when edible oil is used with a large flow for cooking or with a small flow for salad dressing.
For spreadable food products like ketchup, mayonnaise or chocolate sauce, it has hinge closures with a dispensing valve. The valve is made from TPE, allowing separation of the valve from PET during the recycling process.
The topic of lightweighting will be discussed at this year’s ProSweets trade fair, held in conjunction with ISM, from January 28-31, 2018 in Cologne Germany.
ConfectioneryNews and BakeryandSnacks will be hosting two events in Speaker’s Corner at the show; ‘The power of plants in snacks and confectionery’ (Sunday, January 28, 12noon) and ‘How to use lightweight packs & recyclable materials in confectionery’ (Monday, January 29, 2pm) Open to all.