Investment in Russia Branding in Poland Research in Germany

February 

2008 

Financial turmoil not 

effecting regional 

investment plans 

How novel packaging 

helps create brand 

loyalty 

Eastern demand 

for western 

technology 

February 2008 Issue 1 

Investment in Russia 

Branding in Poland 

Research in Germany 

News Analysis Opinions Product Developments 

Branding Company Information Events Awards

Welcome! 

Welcome to the first print issue of 

Central and Eastern European 

Packaging. 

This will be a monthly publication 

and a support to the daily news service 

which you probably know as it is now in 

its third year. 

We hope that you find this publication 

interesting and a useful tool for 

your business. 

Each issue will include stories from 

around the region - not just from the 

big countries like Germany and Russia 

but also the smaller countries as well! 

We will bring you news of what is happening, 

who is doing what and where, 

what products are being sold, what 

events are taking place and each issue 

will feature success stories of regional 

companies. 

In this issue you will read about companies 

which are successfully investing 

in Russia, brand awareness through 

packaging in Poland, research and 

development in Germany. At all times 

we will keep a close eye on the requirements 

of the clients of packaging and 

what they are looking for. And we shall 

not forget the environment and what 

the packaging industry in this part of 

the world is doing to safeguard the 

future of our children. 

Please give us your feedback and comments 

and if you have any ideas for a 

story then please let us know. 

We hope to hear from you, either by 

e-mail, phone or at one of the many 

trade fairs around the Central and 

Eastern European region. 

For more information please see our 

website : 

www.ceepackaging.com 

cover photograph: Palace of Culture, Warsaw, 

Poland 

Credit crunch not hitting investments ....... 3 

Opinion........................................................ 4 

Industry Awards ........................................ 6 

Winners in cosmetics 

packaging product 

awards 

Around the region ................................ 10 

Lodz’s day without plastic bags declared a success 

Opportunity from Russian demand for coffee 

CEE labour costs rising 

CEE biggest market for eurozone 

Hungary defies EU 

Bosnian packaging association founded 

Latvia fights to slow growth 

Permit to pollute 

Products and branding .......................... 11 

Multi layer trays for Polish ready meals 

Novel packaging to reinforce a mature brand 

New look for Masmix 

Fire and ice for Wyborowa bottle 

An exciting design for 

popular Polish vodka 

Investments .............................................. 15 

Heinz invests in Russian business 

Suez sees future in recycling in Germany 

Technology centre launched in Dortmund 

Label company expands to Russia 

Hungarian plastics plant to open 

Sack plant being built in Saransk 

Tin plate facility for Moscow 

Schott to build packaging facility 

Rusal to build aluminium foil plant near Moscow 

Rexam investing in central and eastern Europe 

Largest regional plant for liquid food packaging 

Benefitting from the Russian building boom 

Can plant for Rostov 

P&G investing USD450m in Poland 

Contents 

Company news ...................................... 22 

Nordena recieves certification 

Haver delivers 5,000th weigher 

Sidel appoints CEO 

Swedish Amercan to 

head Sidel 

3S Packaging Technology succeeds Bradman-Lake 

Alcoa to sell packaging business 

Environment ............................................ 25 

Reducing carbon footprint 

With environmental concerns 

increasingly important, a paper 

board company makes pro ecological 

changes - before being forced to 

do so. 

Analysis .................................................... 26 

Label demand increasing 

Aluminium foil sales at record levels 

Strong growth in Poland 

Events .................................................. 27 

Czech food sector increasingly varied 

Czech food event 

likely to attract 

interest from 

packaging sector 

Interpack to fill centre to capacity 

Snow fails to stop drink fair 

Table of events 

With annual growth at 

well over five percent 

and EU money pouring 

in, the Polish 

economy is in very 

good shape. 

Company profile ...................................... 29 

MiSSP 

A packaging machinery producer 

from near Krasnoar in southern 

Russia tells its story in a booming 

market.. 

Central and Eastern European Packaging 

www.ceepackaging.com 

Tel.: +48 22 2195466, +48 502 159080, 

e. mail : alan@ceepackaging.com 

This magazine is distributed free of charge via electronic mail and downloads from the internet site. 

It may be printed in whatever quantities are deemed necessary. 

Higher definition for high quality printing is also available by contacting us. 

The magazine can be received in print format at participating trade fairs, industry events etc.. 

The print magazine may be received by postal subscription for EUR400 per year (ten issues).

Credit crunch not hitting 

CEE investment plans 

Troubles in the credit 

markets are not dampening 

corporate plans for 

new foreign direct investments, 

says a detailed 

survey of top executives 

by management consulting 

firm A.T. Kearney. 

As far as US investors are concerned, 

Central and Eastern Europe 

remains an interesting destination with 

Russia at ninth, Germany tenth, Poland 

twenty second and the Czech Republic 

twenty fifth in the list of most interesting 

investment destinations. 

The assessment of senior executive 

sentiment at the world's largest companies 

found corporate investors optimistic 

about the prospects for developing 

nations and increasingly targeting them 

for more corporate investment in the 

years ahead. These are among the findings 

from the latest Foreign Direct 

Investment Confidence Index, a regular 

survey of global executives conducted by 

A.T. Kearney. The Index provides a 

unique look at the present and future 

prospects for international investment 

flows. Companies participating in the 

survey account for more than USD3.8 

trillion in global revenue. 

Europe's strong economy helped 

Germany maintain its position in the top 

ten rankings whilst Russia, Poland and 

the Czech Republic all score well. 

‘The world's economic centre of power 

continues its perceptible shift from 

developed to developing markets,’ said 

Paul A. Laudicina, managing officer and 

chairman of A.T. Kearney. ‘While global 

FDI recovers further from its 2003 lows, 

the increasingly transnational behavior 

of corporations is reflected in their 

investment preferences. Developed 

countries are competing with developing 

countries for investment capital, and 

developing countries are increasingly 

winning out.’ 

Concern about U.S. Economy 

Despite the shift in investment expectations, 

global executives remain concerned 

over the role the U.S. plays in the health 

of the world's economy. Global executives 

cited the slowing U.S. economy (55 

percent), volatility of the U.S. dollar (45 

CEE PACKAGING 

Moscow’s GUM shopping centre. The challenge for businesses is to 

provide the demanding Russian consumer with the same quality as 

Western Europeans and North Americans receive. 

percent), rising interest rates (39 percent), 

increased government regulation 

(38 percent) and the volatility of energy 

prices (37 percent) as the top concerns 

facing the world economy. 

CEE Packaging, www.ceepackaging.com Tel.: +48 22 2195466, +48 502 159080 

3

CEE PACKAGING 

Growing market but still with problems 

Executives see numerous risks and 

opportunities in various emerging 

regions of the world. While executives 

see opportunity in Eastern Europe's 

lower labour costs and proximity to 

Western Europe, they remain concerned 

about corruption and the lack of reform 

in the region. 

Nonetheless the need to take part in 

the growing food and pharmaceutical 

industries in this region is a major challenge 

and many western companies have 

invested heavily. Logically, packaging 

companies have been hot on their heels. 

Going shopping today in the Urals is 

not all that much different to that in 

London or Paris, many of the brands are 

the same as are the packaging they are 

sold in. Nonetheless there is still a huge 

market to be filled above all in Russia. 

Even in Poland, packaging consumption 

is still much lower than it is in 

Germany and it is this market that packaging 

producers across the board will be 

wanting to take advantage of. 

The effect that FDI has had on the 

packaging industry can be shown by two 

examples. The American Heinz sought 

to profit from the change of economics 

in Russia very early and was exporting to 

that country, largely from the USA early 

Top 25 locations for planned 

foreign investment 

(Source A. T. Kearney) 

1. China 

2. India 

3. United States 

4. United Kingdom 

5. Hong Kong 

6. Brazil 

7 Singapore 

8. United Arab Emirates 

9. Russia 

10. Germany 

11. Australia 

12. Vietnam 

13. France 

14. Canada 

15. Japan 

16. Malaysia 

17. Other Gulf States 

18. South Africa 

19. Mexico 

20. Turkey 

21. Indonesia 

22. Poland 

23. Central Asia 

24. South Korea 

25. Czech Republic 

in the 1990s. However for logistics reasons 

a local partner was sought and by 

the early 2000s the company was pro- 

ducing food in that country. In order to 

maintain packaging standards, it is still 

largely supplied from Western Europe 

and the USA but this is in the process of 

changing. Russian businesspeople have 

been keen to obtain equipment to manufacture 

packaging especially that related 

to flexible packaging and above all film. 

Russian suppliers of quality packaging 

are running at full capacity and as soon 

as capacity is increased they find that 

that the extra is taken up in no time. For 

the Russian packaging producers the big 

challenge is that of supplying the quality 

that the western food companies require. 

In Poland the Swiss multinational 

Nestle bought leading food company 

Winiary in the early 1990s. Today if it 

were not for the language on the packet, 

it would be very difficult to tell what 

brand is produced where. Nestle has 

been very successful in its marketing and 

branding to ensure a trans national 

equality of packaging. 

Local FMGC companies awoke very 

quickly to the threat to their market 

share and had to introduce packaging 

that showed them to be equal to their 

multinational competitors. However 

with increased FDI they too could see 

ownership changes as local businesspeople 

sell out to major corporations.This in 

turn will create the challenge for packaging 

suppliers to meet the requirement of 

transnational brand uniformity. 

Photo left: Superfos opened this factory 

in Lubien Kujawski near Lodz 

on 20 September 2006. The area of 

central Poland has been first choice 

for many foreign investors in the 

past few years. The reason for this 

industrial location is that of easy 

access to Poland’s 38 million consumers 

as well as those in neighbouring 

countries. Hampered by a 

very long time by poor communications, 

Lodz will soon be the meeting 

point of the north - south and east - 

west motorway junctions.. In a matter 

of a very short time, this area 

has been transformed from an 

unemployment black spot to one in 

which it is getting more and more 

difficult to find labour.

Europe’s top show 

for creativity in 

primary packaging. 

Next stop: Warsaw. 

easyFairs ® PACKAGING INNOVATIONS 

is Europe's most exclusive packaging 

show, aimed at budget-holding sales & 

marketing and branding executives who 

are looking for new ideas to help their 

products fly off the shelf. Launched in 

the United Kingdom in a blaze of 

success, it will now run in Europe's top 

creative hotspots, including Warsaw. 

So if you are offer services at the leading 

edge of contemporary packaging, 

this is the show for you! 

easyFairs ® PACKAGING INNOVATIONS Warsaw 7 & 8 April 2009 

For more information about easyFairs please contact Alexandra Stankiewicz 

on +33 (0)1 58 17 37or at polska@easyfairs.com 

TRADE SHOWS FOR PEOPLE WHO SIMPLY WANT TO DO BUSINESS 

easyFairs.com

6 

Opinion 

Opinion : 

Under packaging 

is ten times 

worse than over 

packaging 

by Jane Bickerstaffe, Director of INCPEN 

Food waste levels are shocking but 

no-one is doing more to reduce 

them than the packaging industry. 

Supermarkets and their suppliers are 

reducing packaging but, more importantly 

they are making sure they use 

enough packaging to help stop food 

waste which is a much bigger problem. 

A huge amount of food goes to waste 

each year from households. Good 

packaging helps prevent this by keeping 

food fresh for longer and by helping us 

buy food in portion sizes that suit our 

needs. 

A recent survey found that five percent 

of the weight of the shopping basket 

is packaging and drew the wrong 

conclusions. Weight is not the only 

measure of environmental impact. 

Carbon footprint is also important. So 

too is using recycled content (which 

means the packaging needs to be heavier 

to do the same job). 

Perhaps surprisingly, some packaging 

has to weigh more than its contents or 

it couldn't do its job. Champagne needs 

to be packed in a bottle that is 47 percent 

of the total weight or it wouldn't 

survive the journey from the vineyard to 

home, let alone contain bubbles. On 

the other hand, some packaging is 

much lighter - butter wrapping is only 

one percent of the product. 

If products are damaged or spoiled as 

a result of inadequate packaging, all the 

energy and materials in those products 

are lost. 

If we didn't have packaging, landfills 

would be a great deal fuller, with damaged 

goods and spoilt food. Used 

household packaging occupies less than 

three percent of landfill space and companies 

are working to reduce it further. 

How much food arrived home in 

good condition and how much ended 

up as waste is something generally 

ignored. After all the whole point of 

packaging is to make sure the food is 

safe and wholesome all the way through 

to when it's consumed." 

The fact is that far from being "rubbish", 

packaging saves far more waste 

than it generates. Recycling also has its 

own environmental impact because 

energy and materials are used to collect, 

sort and clean the items for recycling. 

There is always going to be some packaging 

and other waste that shouldn't be 

recycled because it will have a negative 

environmental impact." 

That said, there are some examples of 

excessive use of packaging. A proven 

way to get rid of them is to establish a 

multi-stakeholder group to act as forum 

for consumers' complaints and provide 

companies with technical advice. Join 

INCPEN's campaign for a Packaging 

Watchdog! 


Client opinion: 

H&M 

H&M is a fashion group with 

stores throughout central Europe 

including in 23 cities in Poland alone 

with Germany being its largest market. 

Alongside Poland and Germany 

in central Europe, the Swedish based 

company is also present in Austria, the 

Czech Repbulic, Slovakia, Slovenia 

and Hungary. 

H&M packaging buyer Viveca 

Kleebinder says that they use products 

for their print quality. The company 

seeks to reduce grammage at the same 

time as trying to communicate a feeling 

of luxury and flair, so print quality 

is essential. ‚The whiter the cartonboard, 

the better the results', she says. 

Every Christmas H&M develops a 

new gift pack design. During the 

design process, everything is top 

secret. Not until mid-November is the 

design revealed. H&M partners with 

an external company for the graphic 

design. 

To ensure a more personal, less commercial 

feel, H&M does not print its 

logo on the pack. 

‘After all, it's the giver who stands 

behind the present, not H&M,’ says 

Viveca Kleebinder 

The gift packaging is used during 

the Christmas season at all 1,499 

H&M shops in 28 countries.

Industry awards : 

Packaging and dispensing innovation 

enhancing perfumes and cosmetics 

Awards for the best innovations in packaging and dispensing 

were made at the fourth edition of the PCD fair on 23 January 

2008. The event organisers, Oriex, said that they wanted to underscore 

the value of technological innovation as more often than not 

this goes completely unnoticed by the consumer. 

The event itself focused on packaging innovation and dispensing 

systems and was held from 22 - 23 January 2008 at the Cité des 

Sciences et de l'Industrie in Paris. It brought together over 1,200 

participants from 32 countries including most of the countries from 

cental and eastern Europe. The organisers said that the leading 

international brands and their packaging suppliers were all present. 

There were around sixty exhibitors. 

The key issues were the process of innovation, development strategy, 

relations with suppliers, cosmetics and their impact on the environment 

as well as the prospects for the future and new technologies. 

Exhibitors presented packaging innovations for make-up, perfumes, 

beauty, hygiene and body care industries as well as packaging 

compatibility, dispensing, sampling, artwork, promotion, nano-technologies, 

and methods in the fight against counterfeit products. 

The winning products can be seen here. 

Awards 

Eric Caulier, packaging development 

group of Yves Saint Laurent took the 

prize for the packaging of Elle in the 

perfume for women category. 

The men’s perfume prize was awarded to 

Attitude by Giorgio Armani, represented by 

François Martin, perfume packaging manager, 

L’Oréal Produit de Luxe International 

Back, from left to right, members of the jury : Alain Béthune, Michel Dupuis, Hervé Bouix, Charles 

Pileur, Noëlle Baticle, Jean-Paul Marty, Evelyne Dreyfus. 

Prize-winners : Laetitia Giraudeau, Alexandra Wolf, Anne Debauge, Christian Revenu, Pascal Mermet, 

Front, from left to right: Thierry Ramboz, Yann Morhain, Pierre Ducastin, Jonathan Thayer, Eric Caulier, 

Olivier Perrin, Francesca Bampo, Nicolas Castex, François Martin

Awards 

The packaging of the 

perfume duo Fuel for Life 

Diesel represented by 

Pierre Ducastin, 

packaging manager, 

L’Oréal Produit de Luxe 

International, received a 

special distinction. 

In the face category the prize 

was awarded to Perfect Touch 

foundation cream by Yves Saint 

Laurent, represented by Eric 

Caulier, Head of the 

Packaging Development Group. 

The prize,in the women’s 

perfume category, was awarded to 

Palazzo by Fendi represented by 

Alexandra Wolf, marketing 

development manager LVMH and 

Laetitia Giraudeau, packaging 

development LVMH 

The make-up prize in the eyes 

category, was awarded to Lash 

XL mascara. The Estée Lauder 

companies were represented by 

Francis Corbellini, packaging 

designer engineer, Christophe 

Jacob, packaging designer engineer, 

and Jonathan Thayer, packaging 

designer engineer. 

Yann Morhain, make-up packaging 

manager for L’Oréal 

Produit de Luxe International, 

took the award in the lip make 

up category for Lancôme 

Color Fever 

The body 

care category 

award went to 

ARMANI body 

lotion, 

represented 

by Thierry 

Ramboz, care 

and hygiene 

packaging 

manager, 

L’Oréal Produit 

de Luxe 

International. 

The prize in the lips category, was 

awarded to Rouge Allure lipstick by 

Chanel, represented by Francesca 

Bampo, make-up marketing department, 

Nicolas Castex, make-up packaging 

engineer and Olivier Perrin, mock-up 

creation manager. 

The prize in the hair care 

category, was awarded to Tec 

Play Ball finishing 

cream by L’Oréal 

Professionnel, represented by 

Anne Debauge, Packaging 

Innovation, and Christian 

Revenu, professional product 

packaging manager.

10 

Around the region 

Lodz’s day without plastic 

bags declared a success 

The mayor of Lodz in central Poland 

declared 24 January a day without 

plastic shopping bags and has gone on to 

declare his action a big success. 

Lodz is one of the largest cities in 

Poland and has been described as being 

where packaging waste is doing the most 

damage to the environment. 

An environmental campaign calling 

for people to refuse to have their shopping 

packed in plastic bags, initiated by 

Manufaktura in Lodz is one of the biggest 

shopping centres in Europe. 

Law and Justice (PiS) city councillor 

Krzysztof Piatkowski, appears to have 

been successful and was so described by 

the council. 

Major supermarket chains such as 

Tesco, Real, Carrefour and Leclerc also 

joined in the “Day Without Plastic 

Bags”, providing their stores with 

biodegradable packaging. 

Many smaller stores did not give plastic 

bags to their customers unless they 

asked for them. 

‘I can not forbid the distribution 

of plastic bags, 

even for a day, but I want to 

convince people to stop 

using them,’ Krzysztof 

Piotrowski told reporters. 

‘Embarrassment is a good 

tool. Nobody likes to be 

Opportunity from growing 

Russian demand for coffee 

The German Optima Group has earmarked 

the Russian market as a 

major area for potential growth, especially 

new developments, such as the converting 

and packaging machine for the 

Cyclero® softcan or the leading dosing 

and packaging technology of Optima for 

portion packs such as for coffee. 

The company claims that its 

dosing technology has filling 

accuracy, gentle product handling 

and reliability. 

The company specialises 

above all in servotechnology. 

This ensures high outputs and 

- so Optima claims - a long 

and reliable life. Size changes 

are nearly achieved by the push 

of a button. The few size parts 

to be used are equipped with 

made to account for their 

own actions - no matter 

what they may be.’ 

quick change devices which speed up 

productivity. 

The Russian market for instant coffee 

is currently the fastest growing in the 

world. Optima alone has supplied ten 

filling lines in the country which were 

partially designed as turn key projects. 


CEE labour costs 

rising sharply 

According to Eurostat, the EU’s statistics 

agency, labour costs in central 

Europe are growing at their fastest 

rate since 1989 – with a 30 per cent 

increase in nominal costs in Latvia in 

the year to last September and rises of 

more than 20 per cent in Romania, 

Estonia and Lithuania. In Poland the 

rise was just under 12 per cent. In real 

terms, average gross wages in Poland 

rose more than 7 per cent in the first 

nine months of 2007 and in Romania 

by nearly 16 per cent, according to the 

Vienna-based Wiiw research institute. 

CEE biggest market 

for eurozone 

Economic growth in CEE region 

will slow due to the upheavals in 

financial markets but the region will 

pull through the turmoil better than 

most, says the European Bank for 

Reconstruction and Development. 

The bank has cut its GDP growth 

forecast for the region for 2008 from 

6.1 per cent to 5 - 5.5 percent, due to 

an expected slow down in the US and 

western Europe. This will help the 

eurozone economies as it is their 

largest export market. The bank 

warned that some economies with 

large current account deficits were vulnerable 

to a likely reduction in foreign 

capital this year, including Bulgaria, 

Romania and Serbia. 

Hungary defies EU 

Hungary has not reacted to a 

European Commission request that it 

amend an 'eco' tax on packaging. The 

commission argues that such fund 

raising measures are in direct contravention 

on the free movement of 

goods within the EU.

Bosnian packaging 

association founded 

The Bihpack packaging association 

was formed in Bosnia Herzegovina in 

October. The association links together 

a number of companies with an aim to 

influence government decisions on 

packaging. The founder members of 

the association are Bihacka pivovara 

Bihac, Bimal d.d. Brcko, Sarajevski 

kiseljak, Prerada i promet mlijeka d.d. 

Tuzla, Vitinka a.d. Kozluk, DK trade, 

Sarajevo (clanica Grupacije Droga 

Kolinska), Ilidzanski dijamant 

Sarajevo, Mercator BH, Sarajevska 

pivara,Teloptic, Zvijezda, Klas Sarajevo 

and Coca-Cola HBC Sarajevo. 

Latvia fights to 

slow growth 

The Latvian finance minister 

Oskars Spurdzins, has said that the 

country is trying to slow its growth, 

currently in double figures. 

International financial institutions 

have named Latvia one of the countries 

that could be worst affected if 

global sentiment towards risk deteriorates 

further. Latvian inflation is the 

highest in the European Union at 

over eleven percent while its current 

account deficit represents 23.5 percent 

of GDP. 

Permit to pollute 

The EU is to allow Bulgaria and 

Romania to increase emissions by 

almost 20 percent whilst other new 

entrant states in central Europe will be 

given increases of between 10 and 20 

per cent to allow them to catch up economically. 

This is to be made up for by 

even more stringent requirements on 

the EU15. 

Multi layer trays for 

Polish ready meals 

The use of multi-layer food trays 

from RPC Bebo UK Corby has 

enabled the Mispol Group to launch a 

new product range to meet the growing 

popularity of ready meals in the Polish 

market. 

Mispol specialises in meat products 

and has a wide domestic and export business 

from its modern production facilities 

in Poland and Belarus. Whereas 

ready meals still have a long way to go 

before they reach the market penetration 

they have in Western Europe, Mispol 

says that their consumer research suggested 

that Polish consumers are looking 

for quick and convenient ready meals in 

single-serve packaging. That is why 

Mispol developed a range of ambient 

products named "Delicious Ready 

Meals," that only need to be heated for 

two minutes in the microwave before 

serving. 

The Type A ready meal tray from 

RPC Bebo UK Corby provides a flexible 

packaging format that meets all of 

Mispol's functional and aesthetic 

requirements. Barrier protection maintains 

the taste of the products over a nine 

Products and branding 

month shelf-life, the pack is fully 

microwaveable, whilst its shape enables 

the consumer to eat directly from the 

tray. 

The ready meal is sterilised in the 

multi-layer PP/EVOH/PP barrier tray 

and sealed with barrier foil. The modern 

design is enhanced by an eye-catching 

cardboard sleeve, which provides excellent 

on-shelf impact as well as holding 

the tray in place. 

With no similar products currently 

available in the Polish ready meal market, 

Mispol feels that the new range will 

be popular with consumers, especially 

those in big cities where one person 

households are becoming increasingly 

common. 

The packaging solution from RPC 

plays a significant role in this success, as 

Ewa Andruk, Marketing Manager of the 

Mispol Group, explains. ‘RPC Bebo 

UK's barrier trays are ideal for a number 

of reasons. Their shape and capacity 

deliver a convenient meal format that is 

easy to prepare and eat from, and from a 

production standpoint they conform well 

to our sterilising processes.’ 


11

12 

Products and Branding Products and Branding 

Using novel packaging to 

reinforce a mature brand 

Amajor problem for marketers to 

resolve is how does a mature brand 

succeed in convincing the consumer to 

buy its products again and again? The 

average shelf life of a consumer product 

is no more than 17 months, and brands 

must consistently come up with new and 

innovative ways to keep customers interested 

and excited about their product 

offerings. 

Time-crunched consumers 

increasingly seek greater convenience 

in the products they buy to 

fit their busy lifestyles. Prymat, a 

Polish manufacturing company of 

universal seasonings, recently 

refreshed one of its brands using a 

convenient resealable zipper feature 

on its packages. 

Prymat is the leading manufacturer 

of spices and soups in 

Poland, as well as exporting to the 

Baltic countries, Ukraine, 

Australia, Czech Republic, Russia, 

and US. 

Prymat partnered with Supreme 

Plastics Ltd., now part of Zip- 

Pak, to incorporate the zipper feature 

into its packaging. 

A "Convenient" Solution 

Prymat has three well-established 

brands for a wide range of universal 

seasonings. Located close to 

the Czech border, the company 

started in 1983 as a producer of 

jellies, puddings and ice cream 

powders, and in the 90s, saw a 

market opportunity and completely 

changed its focus to spices and 

herbs. 

Presently, the company has 300 

employees and a yearly turnover of 

EUR55m. It produces three main 

brands: Kucharek, Prymat and Asta, all 

of which address the traditional central 

and eastern European core market of 

universal seasoning. The Kucharek 

brand, launched in 1995 and today the 

market leader in Poland, includes drop 

cubes, liquid spices, as well as powdered 

soups, and universal seasonings. Its 

launch was a landmark for Prymat, 

because it helped the company to grow 

and branch out in neighbouring regions. 

In 2002, Prymat aimed to become the 

market leader in Poland, a position occupied 

at the time by a competitor. An 

extensive marketing strategy was introduced 

to boost the company to number 

one. Adding resealable features to its 

200g and 500g packages of Kucharek 

universal seasonings was an essential element 

of Prymat's efforts. 

Prymat partnered with Zip-Pak and 

added the ZE100 zippers to its 

Kucharek brand, thus offering consumers 

added convenience. 

‘From the start, Prymat has offered 

products that enhance consumer convenience 

at affordable prices, an impor- 


tant distinction for the price-conscious 

Polish consumer. Our powdered seasonings 

are by their very nature easy to use. 

It made perfect sense to us to build on 

this by packaging our products in a more 

convenient way’, says Przemyslaw Pajak, 

PR manager for Prymat. 

Featured by Prymat as a first in the 

Polish market, the ZE100 resealable features 

offer consumers easier access 

to package contents. The pack protects 

the goods from moisture thus 

extending product life. Prymat seasonings 

can be stored in their original 

package thus the company 

retains and reinforces brand recognition 

even at home. 

‘As the first company in Poland 

to offer resealability, we quickly 

stood apart from our competitors,’ 

says Pajak. ‘This technology fulfilled 

our need to enhance the 

brand by differentiating it at the 

point-of-sale and encouraging 

repeated purchases.’ 

Becoming a Global Brand 

The outcome of the campaign has 

been a visible increase in sales: 

‘Adding a resealable feature to our 

packages was an important and 

necessary part for achieving our 

sales goals,’ adds Pajak. ‘It was the 

perfect solution to keep our customers 

interested and build new 

excitement about our brand and its 

products.’ 

Today, Prymat and Kucharek are 

global brands sold in retail outlets 

in many countries. The company will 

continue to expand its reach into 

Western and North Western Europe. 

‘We believe that we have tapped into a 

worldwide trend for packaging that 

maintains freshness, reduces food waste 

and is easier to use. We're proud to be a 

trend-setter in what we believe will 

become the flexible bulk packaging standard 

for universal seasonings worldwide,’ 

concludes Pajak.

Products and Branding 

New look for Masmix in 

attempt to regain lost market 

Masmix at the beginning of the 

1990s was the undisputed leading 

butter like spread in Poland. Its name 

was synonymous with the product, so 

much so that people could even refer to 

such spreads as Masmix, in the same way 

that Hoover or Biro are used. By the mid 

1990s however this market domination 

had disappeared and by the end of the 

decade the company that produced it was 

in serious financial trouble.The company 

was acquired by the Finnish Raiso. 

Raisio is a pioneer in the food industry, 

specialising in developing feeds, malts 

and functional food ingredients. 

When Raisio decided to relaunch 

Masmix in new packaging, it turned to 

RPC Bebo Polska to devise a solution. 

Whilst the company confirmed that it 

could produce the lid, Raisio was keen to 

use in-mould labeled (IML) decoration 

in order to enhance the container's 

appearance and so RPC Bebo Plastik 

suggested involving RPC Bramlage 

Antwerpen. 

It was quickly agreed that the final 

product should be a 400g tub produced 

by RPC Bramlage Antwerpen. RPC 

Bebo Polska manufactures the thermoformed 

pre-printed lid with sheet from 

RPC Bebo Plastik in Germany. This size 

is more practical for the consumer, as the 

tub can be held in one hand, leaving the 

other hand free to butter. 

The only difficulty was that the 

desired 400g size was not in RPC 

Bramlage's Antwerpen's product range 

and so would require new tooling, which 

would not be ready in time for Raisio's 

preferred launch date. At this point, the 

three parties hit upon a solution to introduce 

the new packaging style to consumers, 

as Peter Van Dyck, Sales and 

Planning Manager of RPC Bramlage 


Antwerpen, explains. 

‘As we could begin production of a 

500g design immediately, Raisio began a 

promotional campaign to sell this size at 

a discount to pave the way for the switch 

to the 400g size,’he comments.‘This way 

the larger size could be used short-term, 

while drawing the attention of consumers 

to the IML packaging in a clear 

and memorable manner using a large red 

promotional flash across the bottom of 

the container.’ 

By the time the promotional campaign 

was over, the mould for the new 400g 

tubs was ready for production, providing 

Raisio with a smooth transition to the 

new size. 

Whether or not it will help Masmix 

regain its former market share is now a 

question that shoppers will have to 

resolve.

14 


Fire and ice for 

Wyborowa bottle 

Wyborowa, one of the leading 

brands of Polish vodka, recently 

launched a limited edition. 

Ricard, the owners of the Wyborowa 

brand, chose an edition that propels the 

vodka into an unusual, contemporary 

universe and which outlines the distinctive 

character of this Polish vodka: the 

letter W refers both to the brand's name 

and to the word, wódka, the Polish 

spelling of vodka. 

The limited edition bottle is draped in 

a full-length sleeve produced by Sleever, 

whose metallic ice-blue shades set off the 

deep-red W. To cap the exploit, for the 

first time the closure remains one with 

the top after opening by means of a 

metallic sheath. 

The main marketing aim in this highly 

fashionable, and thus highly contested, 

sector of vodkas is to increase the awareness 

of Wyborowa and reinforce the 

brand's premium image among consumers. 

The collectible was launched in massmarket 

retail and nightclubs. 

Ricard wanted to remain true to the 

cold colours, traditionally associated with 

clear alcohols, whilst making the most of 

sleeve technology, with a pioneering 

combination of a sleeve and a closure 

fixed to the top by a bespoke adhesive 

system. The result is a 360° shimmering 

array of metallic electric blues that draws 

the eye to the elegant claret-coulored W 

of the Wyborowa brand, which burns as 

if encased in ice. The sole transparent 

feature of this new decor is a narrow vertical 

window down the length of the bottle 

that reveals the alcohol within. 

A difficult concept to produce 

The development phase was carried out 

by Sleever and Ricard to obtain a 

homogenous blue, free of any concentration 

around the neck or shoulders of the 

complex Wyborowa bottle. A design was 

required accurate to 0.2mm to ensure the 

exact transcription of the decor and 3D 

imaging for the transparent window.The 

sleeve was printed in nine colour helio- 

engraving, including two metal silver 

shades to create the overall metallic 

effect that catches the light so well even 

in the most muted ambiences. 

It was decided to use an SI-PET- 

TG/050-Z film for the bottle sleeve 

because of its 360° visual characteristics 


and uniform shrinkage on a form with 

differences in diameter of up to sixty 

percent and an SI-PET-SF/075 for the 

closure to ensure that it is capable of 

withstanding the constant opening and 

closing of the bottle.

Heinz invests in 

Russian business 

Heinz, the US-based global food 

company, is a chosen supply partner 

of fast food restaurants chain 

McDonald's in Russia for the production 

of liquid products. These products 

include ketchup, mayonnaise-based 

sandwich sauces, syrups for milk shakes, 

ice cream toppings and dipping sauces. 

Similar packaging formats are used by 

McDonald's in other markets. 

In Russia, Heinz-Petrosoyuz is the 

fully owned local Heinz company headquartered 

in St. Petersburg. With 2,000 

employees, it runs three production 

plants across Russia. Dynamic growth 

has led the company to seek strong partnerships 

with its suppliers. 

Sealed Air in Russia helped Heinz- 

Petrosoyuz find a Vertical Pouch 

Packaging machine for its operation. A 

new machine was needed in order to 

commence prompt supply which Sealed 

Air installed within two months. 

Heinz-Petrosoyuz adopted the 

Vertical Pouch Packaging (VPP) technology 

from Sealed Air Cryovac to pack 

products for McDonald's in 1kg and 2kg 

resistant flexible pouches. The VPP 

technology results in hygienic and highly 

resistant packs that ensure prolonged 

shelf life, convenience and security. 

Cryovac flexible pouches are made of 

fully co-extruded, multilayer, high barrier 

film. This technology provides a pack 

with no headspace, which is formed, vertically 

filled, heat sealed and separated 

into a finished, hermetic, puncture resistant 

pillow pouch offering high pack 

integrity. The high barrier materials provide 

optimal protection and extended 

shelf life. The company claims that the 

chlorine free formulations are compatible 

with environmental and recycling 

requirements. Sealed Air further claims 

that the new packaging fulfills numerous 

cost, quality and logistical advantages, 

including a direct packaging cost reduction 

compared to metal cans and plastic 

containers. 

Heinz-Petrosoyuz has begun to fill 

some of its liquid products such as tomato 

ketchup in this packaging format. 


As the film is manufactured in the 

Sealed Air plant in Volgograd, inevitable 

customs delays at the border are avoided 

which has a positive impact on logistics. 

Heinz-Petrosoyuz now owns two 

Cryovac machines to support the growing 

demand for this type of pack format. 

All the quality standards that Heinz 

implements globally are implemented at 

the Heinz-Petrosoyuz facility: Good 

Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and 

Good Hygiene Practice (GHP). 

The Cryovac packaging has enabled 

Heinz-Petrosoyuz to efficiently respond 

to growing volumes and expanding 

demand, as well as geographical expansion 

projects. ‘Developing a close partnership 

with Sealed Air has become a 

great business advantage. We appreciate 

the very efficient support they provided 

when we urgently needed a second VPP 

machine to satisfy our increasing customer 

demand, which was quite an 

achievement!’, said Maxim Kiselnikov, 

Head of Foodservice for Heinz- 

Petrosoyuz. 


15

16 

Investment 

Suez sees future in recycling packaging in 

Germany 

Suez Environment, through its waste 

subsidiary SITA Deutschland 

GmbH, has just acquired the majority of 

the capital of BellandVision GmbH, a 

German licensing and service company 

for recycling the packaging of manufacturers 

and large-scale retail operations. 

Following the agreement signed on 5 

December 2007, Suez Environment 

holds 68.4 percent of the shares of 

BellandVision GmbH. 

For the past few years, to meet the 

requirements of the European Union, 

the German market for the collection, 

treatment and recycling of packaging, 

has been opened up to competition. This 

market was traditionally controlled by a 

single entity, the DSD (Duales System 

Deutschland GmbH). Following liberalisation 

other players have appeared in 

this market segment, like BellandVision. 

Today BellandVision is a major player 

in the packaging-recycling market in 

Germany.This Bavarian company, whose 

2007 gross revenues are estimated at 

EUR35m, operates a packaging recycling 

contribution system with 100 

large-scale retail companies and 1,800 

manufacturers. 

With this strategic acquisition, SITA 

Deutschland, which already operates in 

all of Germany through 123 facilities, 

including transfer stations, sorting centers 

and composting platforms, is 

expanding its offerings by entering a new 

market segment and thus becomes a lead 

player in the sector of selective collection, 

recycling and reuse of packaging in 

Germany. 

‘The German waste market is a competitive 

sector but first and foremost a 

true laboratory of ideas and new technologies 

from which other European 

countries could draw inspiration in the 

coming years’, said Jean-Louis 

Chaussade, CEO of Suez Environment, 

‘Because it will reinforce us over the 

entire value chain in Germany, this 

acquisition is in line with the economic 

model that we are following in our waste 

activities.’ 

In a German waste market that is 

booming and particularly in the packaging 

segment, which is growing and is 

already valued at EUR1.5bn, this latest 

step enables Suez Environment to position 

itself in a key segment of the waste 

sector, which promises to have a bright 


future in that country, and to offer intergrated 

services to its industrial and commercial 

customers. 

Suez has been present in Germany 

since 1967 in the water supply and waste 

clearance businesses. 

In the waste business line, Suez 

Environment is represented by SITA 

Deutschland GmbH, which is among 

the leading companies in the waste management 

sector in Germany. SITA 

Deutschland handles the collection and 

sorting of waste and, in some areas, is 

present throughout the entire waste cycle 

from collection to treatment. SITA 

Deutschland has over 60,000 industrial 

and commercial customers. It serves 

approximately 10 million inhabitants in 

almost 1,000 German cities and municipalities. 

The company has 3,500 

employees and operates throughout the 

entire territory with a fleet of 1,500 

trucks and through 123 waste treatment 

and recycling facilities, including 123 

transfer stations, sorting centers, and 

composting platforms. 

In 2006, SITA Deutschland had gross 

revenues of EUR472m.

Technology 

centre launched 

in Dortmund 

KHS AG, internationally active manufacturer 

of filling and packaging 

equipment for the beverage, food, and 

non-food industries, has set up a new 

technology centre at the company's 

headquarters in Dortmund. For KHS, 

this investment means investing both in 

the future of the company and also 

investing in the future of customers 

worldwide. 

The new technology center has a floor 

area of about 1,000 square meters spread 

over two stories, and is linked to an existing 

training center. Theoretical training 

courses and practical training on the 

'nuts and bolts' therefore complement 

one another. The communication systems 

are used and are linked directly to 

the KHS network. 

Within the group, KHS in Dortmund 

is the competence centre for cleaning 

and pasteurising technology, conveyor 

technology, as well as for labeling and 

inspection technology. Equipment for 

these areas of activity can be found within 

the technology centre such as a rotary 

conveyor, a labeling machine equipped 

with different labeling modules, the 

functional bottle washer model, the 

empty bottle inspection machine and a 

foreign substance inspector . 

KHS has invited its customers to take 

part in training programs in the new 

technology centre. Particularly when 

new investments are made in complex 

solutions, advance training of employees 

ensures high machine and system efficiency 

from the commissioning stage 

onward. The focus for KHS is to relay 

the maximum amount of information 

while giving individual attention to every 

single course participant. The plan is 

therefore to keep training groups small 

in order to maximise the benefit for each 

individual. 

In the future, open events will be held 

at the technology centre. At the same 

time, it will be possible to hold individual 

training courses for individual companies 

in the beverage, food, and non-food sectors. 

In addition to seminars aimed at 

special segments such as adhesive-pressure 

labeling, for example, courses are 

also offered that are designed to provide 

a general overview of a particular area. 

An example of this is seminars, which 

explicitly present the full range of 

options offered by labeling technology 

today. The target group for these 

'overview seminars' not only includes 

technicians - especially in the field of 

labeling technology - but also the staff 

responsible for marketing. 

The technology centre will also be a 

test centre. If a company intends to 

introduce a new type of PET bottle into 

its product line, test runs can be carried 

out within the rotary conveyor relating to 

the conveying behaviour, possible conveyor 

throughput, material stress, etc. If 

a new style label should be involved, the 

interaction of label, labeling machine, 

container, adhesive, etc. can easily be 

tested. The centre claims that everything 

that can be tested using existing machine 

technology can be tested there. 

The Dortmund Technology Centre is 

the second such centre for KHS, the first 

being at Bad Kreuznach. Here, the focus 

is on the fields of rinsing, filling, and capping/seaming 

technology for bottles and 

cans, filtration, beverage blending technology, 

high gravity brewing systems, 

and flash pasteurizing and deaeration 

systems. 

Besides training within the technology 

centres, the company also provides training 

options and programs at all its production 

locations worldwide. In addition 

to its other German manufacturing 

plants located in Kriftel, Kleve, Bad 

Arolsen, Hamburg, and Niederzissen, 

KHS also maintains production facilities 

in Brazil, U.S.A., Mexico, India, and 

China. 

CEE Packaging, www.ceepackaging.com 

17

18 


Label company 

expands to Russia 

CCL Industries, a producer of specialty 

packaging and labelling for 

the consumer products and healthcare 

markets, has created a newly named 

label company, CCL-Kontur, that will 

service the territories of Russia and 

other CIS countries. 

The new company is jointly owned 

by CCL Label and Ilgar Mamedov, an 

entrepreneur in the Russian label 

industry. Ilgar Mamedov has contributed 

the assets of two label businesses 

into the new company: Kontur 

Plus based in a new facility in Moscow, 

and Asterix, based in St. Petersburg. 

CCL-Kontur had sales of approximately 

USD26m in 2007. CCL is 

investing approximately USD16m to 

acquire a 50 percent interest in these 

assets and to provide funding for additional 

capacity related investments. 

With headquarters in Toronto, 

Canada, CCL Industries employs 

5,200 people and operates 51 production 

facilities in North America, 

Europe, Latin America and Asia. CCL 

manufactures pressure sensitive, shrinksleeve 

and in mould labels, aluminium 

containers and plastic tubes for leading 

global companies in the home and personal 

care, healthcare and specialty 

food and beverage markets. 

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required. 

Hungarian plastics 

plant to open 

Chesapeake Corporation, an international 

supplier of paperboard, 

plastic and pharmaceutical packaging, 

recently dedicated its new plastic packaging 

plant in Peremarton, Hungary, 

which serves specialty chemical customers. 

The new plant is a joint venture 

formed last year between Chesapeake 

and Chemark Termelö és Kereskedö 

Kft., a pesticide formulating company 

based in Hungary. The joint venture, 

Chesapeake Plastics Kft., supplies customers 

including Chemark and 

Syngenta Crop Protection and is targeting 

prospective specialty chemical plastic 

packaging customers in central and 

Sack plant being 

built in Saransk 

As part of a major investement programme, 

Segezha Packaging has 

started construction of a new sack production 

plant in Saransk in Central 

Russia. The EUR21m plant will have a 

capacity of up to 400 million sacks per 

year. The project will create 300 jobs. 

The focus of the plant will be sacks 

for the building industry. The plant will 

be equipped with three production lines 

and a pre-printer from Windmöller & 

Hölscher. 

‘The location of the plant was not 

chosen by chance,’ says Daniel 

Matyukhin, general manager of Segezha 

Packaging for CIS. ‘The new operations 

Tin plate facility for Moscow 

Huber Packaging group is to commence 

a tin-plate packaging plant 

in the greater Moscow region. It will 

produce tin-plate packaging for the 

industrial chemicals sector. 

The machinery and equipment 

required will be manufactured at a specially 

constructed production facility 

operated by the Russian company Tokk 

which will also handle the contract 


eastern Europe. 

Through its Specialty Chemical 

Packaging Division, Chesapeake 

designs and manufactures high-performance 

plastic bottles and containers 

and supplies a full range of HDPE and 

PET bottles and containers to multinational 

companies as well as smaller specialised 

businesses. The company has 

production sites in France, United 

Kingdom, China and now Hungary. 

Chemark Termelö és Kereskedö Kft. 

is a privately owned Hungarian company, 

located in Peremarton, Hungary, 

near Budapest. The company was 

founded in 1991 and is involved in the 

formulation and supply of pesticides. 

will be situated in the very heart of “the 

cement belt” of Russia and CIS. The 

production site will be located in 

Saransk, which is 500kms south east of 

Moscow. All necessary infrastructure is 

right here: heat and power supplies, 

local railways and good roads, water, gas 

supply and communications, and the 

production and management complex is 

in good condition. Proximity to key customers 

combined with the well-developed 

infrastructure makes Saransk the 

perfect location in compliance with our 

comprehensive expansion plans.’ 

printing work. Tokk produces aluminium 

bottle tops, twist-off caps and threepiece 

tin-plate cans for the food and 

beverage industry. 

The plant will employ 150 people. 

Outside of its native Germany, Huber 

has facilities in Austria and Hungary. It 

has three divisions, industrial, beverage 

and decorative.


Schott announces plans to build pharmaceutical 

packaging facility in Nizhny Novgorod 

Schott Pharmaceutical Packaging, a 

worldwide supplier of parenteral 

packaging to the pharmaceutical industry, 

has decided to build the company's 

first production facility located in the 

Russian Federation. The new plant is 

expected to become operational in 2009. 

The facility will be based in Bor, a city 

located near the fourth largest city in 

Russia, Nizhny Novgorod. 

'This move is of great strategic importance 

to our pharma business, it will 

strengthen the company's leading position 

and allow for pharmaceutical customers 

based in the Commonwealth of 

Independent States to be served more 

effectively', says Prof. Dr.-Ing. Udo 

Ungeheuer, Chairperson of the Board of 

Management of Schott. 

Schott made the investment decision 

due to double digit growth in the premium 

quality segment. The company has 

been active in the Russian market for 

parenteral primary pharmaceutical packaging 

for years by serving this region in 

particular from an existing plant in 

Hungary. 

Initially, the company will begin manufacturing 

primary pharmaceutical packaging 

with approximately 150 employees. 

Later, a capacity of approximately 

300 million units will be installed. The 

support of regional and local government 

officials played an important role in the 

location decision. The chosen site can 

accommodate further expansion options 

to meet increased demand if necessary. 

The pharmaceutical packaging manufacturing 

plant will become the second 

production site run by Schott in Russia. 

The joint venture Schott Flat Glass 

Russia began processing flat glass for 

ovens and refrigerators at the end of 

September. 

Schott Pharmaceutical Packaging is 

one of the world's leading suppliers of 

parenteral packaging for the pharmaceutical 

industry. More than 500 production 

lines in eleven production sites worldwide 

produce more than six billion 

syringes, vials, ampoules, cartridges and 

special articles of tubing glass or polymer. 

The company claims that its success 

is due to excellent raw materials, stateof-the-art 

manufacturing, the use of the 

latest technologies, continuous research 

and development enable developing 

innovative product solutions meeting the 

high demands of their customers. It further 

claims that the back-up possibilities 

offered by the company's production 

sites situated all over the world provide 

flexibility, reliability and security to our 

partners. All production sites operate in a 

GMP environment and their products 

comply with the international standards 

EP; USP and JP. It has approximately 

16,800 employees producing worldwide 

sales of approximately EUR2.2bn. 

CEE Packaging, www.ceepackaging.com Tel.: +48 22 2195466 

19

20 


Rusal to build aluminium foil 

plant near Moscow 

The world's largest aluminium and 

alumina producer, UC Rusal, has 

announced plans to construct a packaging 

foil plant near Dmitrov in the 

Moscow region in a USD20m investment. 

The plant will have an annual 

capacity of 20,000 tonnes of packaging 

foil and will increase UC Rusal's share 

of the Russian foil and foil-based packaging 

market by up to 66 percent. 

Construction will begin in 2008 with 

first production scheduled for the end of 

2009. A final feasibility study is currently 

being undertaken by the engineering 

and construction division of the company 

which is responsible for the design, 

construction and launch of new projects. 

The foil for the plant will be shipped 

from Armenal, Sayanal, and Ural foil, 

mills which belong to UC Rusal. The 

company says that the new plant will be 

equipped with technologically advanced 

machinery from the world's leading 

manufacturers of machines used for the 

cutting, stamping, lamination, and gluing 

of foil products. 

The packaging products produced at 

the plant will be shipped to the Russian 

Largest plant in CEE region for 

liquid food packaging coming on line 

Tetra Pak has launched a new converting 

plant in Russia. 

The plant, located in the town of 

Lobnya in the Moscow region, will 

become the largest factory in the central 

and eastern European region manufacturing 

packaging material for liquid 

food products. 

There is currently a major short fall of 

such containers in Russia and delays 

with imports are hampering food producers. 

Growth in demand for milk products 

and fruit juices is in double figures and 

forecast to remain this high for the next 

market to meet demand, which has 

recently demonstrated 5.8 percent average 

annual growth. Potential clients 

include well-known food and pharmaceuticals 

manufacturers, such as the 

Moscow Processed Cheese Spread 

Plant Karat, Wrigley, Craft Foods, the 

Moscow Endocrine Plant, the Shelkovo 

Vitamine Plant and United 

Confectioners Holding, including Rot 

Front, Red October, Babayevsky 

Confectionery, and others. 

Alexander Burdin, Packaging 

Division Director said: ‘Thanks to the 

unique properties of foil, aluminium lies 

at the heart of the packaging industry. 

For this reason UC Rusal is investing in 

new capacities and modernisation of 

existing plants. The fast growing market 

is forcing manufacturers to expand and 

renew their range of products. Today we 

are manufacturing foil-based products 

in Russia that comply with the highest 

international quality standards. We will 

continue to development and plan to 

double the production of our alufoilbased 

flexible packaging in Russia within 

three years.’ 

three or four years. A number of international 

food manufacturers have set up 

facilities in Russia to supply these products 

to a huge market which is increasingly 

able to pay for them. 

With a planned capacity of four billion 

packages per year, this new facility 

will be a strategic addition to Tetra Pak's 

existing capacity. 

The company says that it will accommodates 

state-of-the-art production 

facilities, offices and a warehouse that 

are all equipped and run in an environmentally 

friendly way. 


Rexam investing in 

central and eastern 

Europe 

Multinational Rexam has 

announced plans for expansion 

in central and eastern Europe. 

A new aluminium can plant in 

Ludesch, Voralberg, Austria started 

production a few months ago. The 

plant will have a full capacity of two 

billion cans annually. 

In Russia, Rexam is currently building 

a greenfield aluminium can plant in 

Argayash, Chelyabinsk, 2,000 km east 

of Moscow and close to the Ural 

Mountains, to serve customers who are 

rapidly expanding into the eastern 

regions of Russia. The plant will start 

up in the second quarter of 2008 and 

have a capacity of 1.2 billion cans. 

Tomas Sjölin, Sector Director, 

Rexam Beverage Can Europe & Asia, 

commented: ‘Last year the European 

beverage can market grew more than 

ten percent, further demonstrating customers' 

and consumers' growing preference 

for this single-serve package. 

Growth is continuing and putting even 

more pressure on the supply capabilities 

of the European beverage can industry 

as a whole.’ 

Liquid food products are 

experiencing enormous 

growth in Russia

Benefitting from 

the Russian 

building boom 

When it comes to machine technology, 

the Russian building materials 

industry is leaning increasingly 

towards the western European market 

The outlook for the Russian cement 

industry is excellent not only due to 

domestic consumption but also thanks to 

public infrastructure works. The market 

is booming and double-digit growth is 

the forecast well into 2010. 

The incoming order situation at a 

number of companies involved in the 

cement packing business confirms this 

positive trend. Russian customers are 

increasingly demanding sophisticated 

and cutting-edge technology. 

Improvements in work conditions, environmental 

protection and sustainability 

are now also requirements that must be 

fulfilled in Russia. 

The Russian building materials industry 

is also benefiting from the growing 

demands placed on cement products - a 

sign of more demanding requirements 

and the improved living standards of the 

Russian population. In the building 

materials industry the trend is clear: 

Mortar products are being manufactured 

of according to international quality 

standards with the help largely of 

German high-tech systems. Russian customers 

are demanding packaging with a 

quality that matches the product, and 

machines that reliably produce for years 

and years. 

Can plant for Rostov 

Ball Corp, which makes plastic and 

metal packaging products, plans to 

build a USD120m beverage can plant 

in Rostov in southern Russia which 

will produce 500 million cans a year, 

accounting for about 11 percent of the 

Russian drinks can market. Russian 

beverage can sales stood at 4.3 billion 

in 2007 and the market has been growing 

10 percent annually. 

P&G investing USD450m in Poland 

Procter & Gamble plans to invest 

USD50mn in a new cosmetics plant to 

be located in Aleksandrow Lodzki in 

central Poland close to the major city of 

Lodz together with a further USD50m 

on expanding its plant in the Warsaw 

district of Targowek. 

The Aleksandrow facility will be one 

of the concern’s biggest cosmetics plants 

in Europe. This investment will bring 

the concern’s total investments in 

Poland to over USD450m. Procter & 

Gamble does not rule out further outlays. 

Marek Kapuscinski, Procter & 

Gamble’s head in Poland disagreed that 

rising labour costs and increasing shortages 

of workforce in certain fields of 

expertise discourage them from further 

investments in this country. 


21

Company News 

Nordena recieves 

certification 

The German Association for the 

Certification of Quality 

Management Systems (DQS) has certified 

Nordenia Deutschland Halle 

GmbH, plant Steinfeld, in accordance 

with the prEN 15593 standard, making 

it the first company worldwide to earn 

the certification. The new guideline sets 

standards that apply to hygiene management 

during the production of food 

packaging. Experts from the German 

Association for the Certification of 

Quality Management Systems (DQS) 

recently presented the prEN 15593 certificate 

to Markus Hoedebeck, the 

Hygiene Representative, in Steinfeld. 

Nordenia Deutschland Halle GmbH, 

plant Steinfeld, is one of the world's 

leading companies in developing and 

manufacturing flexible reclosable pack- 

aging for the food and pet food industries. 

The company has been certified in 

accordance with the BRC/IoP and 

HACCP standards by the DQS since 

2004. The standards, along with the ISO 

9001 standard, formed the basis for the 

development of the prEN 15593 standard. 

The objective is to create a universal, 

internationally applicable standard 

for food packaging manufacturers. "By 

earning the prEN 15593 certification, we 

not only fulfill another internationally 

standardized guideline. We also continue 

to increase our reliability in meeting 

hygiene requirements during the production 

of packaging for the food industry 

for our customers," Markus Hoedebeck 

says. 

The DQS believes that being certified 

in accordance with prEN 15593 has 

other advantages as well, "In the future, it 

will be easier to integrate the audit procedures 

regarding quality, environment, 

and work safety into hygiene management," 

Joachim Mehnert, Manager Food 

Safety at the DQS, explains. 

In the food and pet food industries, it 

is absolutely necessary to safeguard products 

and packaging from contamination 

during the entire production process. 

While conducting the certification audit, 

the DQS experts performed a close 

inspection of the hygiene conditions in 

the Production Department, the plant 

buildings, and the staff area. Their conclusion: 

plant Steinfeld fulfills all regulations 

of the new standard. 

Nordenia Deutschlan Halle GmbH, plant Steinfeld, is the first company in the world to earn the hygiene certification 

in accordance with prEN 15593 from DQS.

Haver delivers 5,000th weigher 

During a ceremonious event in Oelde 

on 18 December 2007, the 5000th 

Haver & Boecker MEC III electronic 

weigher system was delivered to 

Dyckerhoff Cement GmbH. This 

jubilee electronic weigher system is part 

of a 2-spout Integra packing machine. 

The machine will go into operation in 

Neuwied, Germany and will be used for 

filling special binders for worldwide 

application in drilling technology. 

The MEC III electronic weigher has 

been a real success story. 5000 units have 

been sold since its approval in January 

2003 and its subsequent phased market 

introduction - 2,125 units in 2007 alone. 

The company claims that the MEC 

III is a milestone in the development of 

electronic weighing: the MEC III electronic 

weigher system is not only about 

weighing, but also about control. It has 

two primary functions: first for recording 

of weight and the weight-dependent 

control of the material flow through the 

filling spout, and secondly it takes over 

the control functions that are remote 

from the weighing system, such as the 

closing of filled bags and discharge from 

the packing machine. The MEC III is 

the first automatic weigher with a 

European-wide design approval, awarded 

to Haver & Boecker in 2007. In addition 

to operation in almost every language 

via graphic display terminal, the 

filling spouts may also be remote-controlled 

because of their network 

(Ethernet) capability. Its user-friendly 

concept allows the MEC III to be accessible 

for remote diagnostics and software 

downloads via the internet. A qualityconforming 

collection of operational 

data via the MEC III network is also 

possible. This is not possible with conventional 

manual control and recording 

systems. The MEC III measurement 

system provides a maximum resolution 

of 6000 increments, which makes it 

highly competitive and successful in the 

segment of automatic weighing systems. 

The decision to build weighing systems 

for packing machines in-house at 

Haver & Boecker was already made way 

back in 1925 when the first valve-bag 

packing machine was produced. Then 

the design specifications and requirements 

for the weighing system, which 

were constrained by the design of the 

packing machine, were very specific, thus 

making self-made units the most feasible. 

The weighing technology was developed 

parallel with the filling technology. 

Initially weighing systems were mechanical, 

using a 1:1 beam scale: Then came 

the 1:10 scale, followed by the moving 

weight scale balance with variable weight 

ratios for the different specified weights. 

In 1974, in partnership with BASF in 

Ludwigshafen, Haver & Boecker developed 

the first electronic weighing system. 

It was an analogue, electromechanical 

system with a resolution of 

up to 2500 increments. Just four years 

later, the 

managers at 

Haver & 

Boecker 

opted to 

develop 

their own 

weighing 

electronics. 

The first 

developed 

Company News 

electronic weighing system had no official 

design approval. It operated in combination 

with a downstream check 

weigher that could be calibrated; a 

process that worked extremely well and 

that today still finds wide use with the 

MEC III. Next the first electronic 

weigher using micro-processor technology 

was developed. This development 

occurred in multiple phases before 

reaching the current MEC III version, 

now on the market for 5 years. 

With the European wide MID 

approval and many other national 

approvals from countries outside of 

Europe, Haver & Boecker with the 

MEC III has become an ambitious specialist 

in electronic weighing systems 

technology. 

PC supported operating and service 

tools which greatly simplify handling 

during operation and start-ups have been 

developed for the MEC III. "With a lot 

of hard work and sweat we've overcome 

the biggest obstacles", explain Peter 

Gerdhenrich, Director of the Electrical 

Engineering + Automation Department, 

and Gerhard Feldhans, Director of 

Weighing Systems Development. We 

are proud that Haver & Boecker is 

among the few packing machine manufacturers 

that have their own development 

departments for electronic weighing 

systems. There are more than 20,000 

H&B electronic weighing systems in 

operation worldwide. 

Photo: MEC III electronic weighing system no. 

5000 produced by Haver & Boecker is installed 

on a 2-spout INTEGRA packing machine. Shortly 

before Christmas it was delivered to Dyckerhoff 

Zement GmbH in Neuwied Germany, represented 

by Lutz Steinhauer, Plant Group Leader 

of Plant Group West. 


23

24 

Company News 

Sidel appoints CEO 3S Packaging Technology succeeds 

Bradman-Lake Europe 

After two years working side by 

side, Mart Tiismann succeeded 

Gérard Stricher as president and CEO 

of Sidel on 1 January 2008. 

Swedish-American Mart Tiismann, 

51, joined Sidel in 2005 as executive 

vice president. At the time, he took 

over industrial operations and product 

R&D activities at Sidel after holding a 

variety of posts with Scania, Eaton, 

Ingersoll-Rand, and Esab in Europe 

and the United States. 

Gérard Stricher is officially passing 

the baton after working alongside 

Tiismann for over two years. 

Stricher joined Sidel in 2001 and has 

led the group since 2002. He has been 

the catalyst for Sidel's transformation 

into a complete bottling solutions 

provider for beverages in plastic and 

glass bottles as well as cans. Most 

notably, the successful merger between 

Sidel and Simonazzi that began in 

2005 was completed on Stricher's 

watch. 

Tiismann explains, ‘Under Gérard 

Stricher's leadership, Sidel turned into 

a global company and dramatically 

increased its competitiveness to satisfy 

mainstream demand for complete bottling 

lines’. 

Sidel is one of the world's leading 

suppliers of beverage packaging equipment 

and has 5,300 employees worldwide. 

After the sale of the UK based 

Bradman-Lake Group of 

Companies to a British engineering 

conglomerate in October 2007 the 

management of the German 

Bradman-Lake GmbH decided to spin 

off and to form an independent packaging 

technology organisation. 

‘We are launching our organisation 

with a new name and a new corporate 

identity whereas ‘3S’ is synonymic for 

Single Source Solutions’, Friedrich 

Kern, MD Marketing and Sales, 

explains. ‘Our name is English as we 

will be serving a sustainably growing 

world market of fast moving consumer 

goods.’ 

The strategy of the company has not 

changed. The newly formed business is 

aiming to become a leading supplier of 

packaging technology. 

With its manufacturing operation 

based in southern Germany directly at 

the foot of the Alps and a global network 

of sales and service support the 

company develops, produces and dis- 

Alcoa to sell 

packaging business 

Alcoa has announced it has agreed 

to sell its packaging and consumer 

businesses to New Zealand's Rank 

Group Limited for USD2.7 billion in 

cash. The transaction is expected to be 

completed by the end of the Q1 2008. 

Alcoa's packaging and consumer 

businesses generated approximately 

USD3.2 billion in revenues and 

USD95m in after-tax operating income 

in 2006, representing approximately ten 

percent of Alcoa 2006 revenues and 

approximately three percent of after-tax 

operating income. Alcoa announced in 

April 2007 its plan to explore strategic 

alternatives for this segment. 

The four businesses included in the 

sale are plastic and aluminum packaging 

closures manufacturer Closure 

Systems International, and plastic and 


tributes stand-alone modules and 

complete line machinery solutions by 

integrating primary, secondary and tertiary 

packaging equipment for the 

world market of food, chocolate, confectionery 

and consumer goods. 

The portfolio ranges from vertical 

bagging (VFFS), horizontal flowwrapping 

(HFFS), top-load and endload 

cartoning to robotic based wraparound 

and top load case packing. 

‘Our success in the past was based on 

many years of customer relations combined 

with the ability to exactly identify 

customer's requirements, our engineering 

know-how and our outstanding 

skills to project manage integrated 

and customized system orders. 

Reference projects can be found 

among frozen fish, hamburger and 

pizza, bar, biscuit, chewing gum, tea 

and baby food manufacturers as well as 

with providers of dish washer tablets, 

razor blades or femcare products’, 

Friedrich Kern says. 

foil container producer Reynolds Food 

Packaging as well as divisions producing 

consumer products and flexible 

packaging. 

In total, these packaging businesses 

have approximately 10,000 employees 

in 22 countries around the world. Alcoa 

will continue to operate its flat-rolled 

can sheet products serving the packaging 

market. Lehman Brothers acted as 

financial advisor to Alcoa on this transaction. 

The Rank Group is a New Zealandbased 

privately-held company with a 

significant packaging presence, including: 

Carter Holt Harvey, SIG Holding, 

and Evergreen Packaging. 

The Rank Group has a global presence 

and employs approximately 

17,000 people.

Reducing carbon 

footprint 

Iggesund Paperboard is reducing its use 

of fossil fuel by three-quarters. The 

company will thereby cut its emissions of 

carbon dioxide from fossil sources by 

three-quarters at Iggesunds Bruk, where 

the company's flagship product, 

Invercote, is made. The radical reduction 

is the result of a detailed energy assessment 

plus investments totalling about 

EUR10.5m, and corresponds to the 

emissions from 20,000 cars each driven 

15,000 kilometres a year. 

‘But our goal is even higher than this,’ 

says Klas Simes, energy coordinator at 

Iggesunds Bruk. ‘We plan a gradual 

changeover so that we will ultimately not 

use any fossil fuel at all, and will also be 

self-sufficient in electricity.’ 

The reduction in Iggesund Bruk's carbon 

dioxide emissions will be implemented 

in 2009. It will come from a 

combination of energy savings plus 

investments in increased capacity for 

biofuel use. Klas explains that the measures 

are not primarily motivated by the 

current intense media discussion of carbon 

emissions: 

‘We can't respond in a short-term, 

erratic way, like public opinion sometimes 

does. We have a long-term environmental 

programme, and environmental 

aspects are considered when making 

every investment decision. But our job - 

and there is no contradiction involved - 

is to deliver a first-class product at a 

competitive price. If we want to do this 

in the long term we have to act systematically 

and rationally. 

‘The huge rises in energy costs in 

recent years have focused attention on 

this area. We've worked hard to achieve 

an intelligent solution that ensures our 

competitiveness - and the reduction of 

carbon dioxide emissions is just one 

result of that.’ 

For decades now Iggesund has been 

implementing a long-term environmental 

programme encompassing the entire 

production process at Iggesunds Bruk. 

The company's energy supply is based on 

heat from Iggesund's own production 

process plus electricity, almost half of 

which is also produced by the company. 

Today over 90 percent of this electricity 

comes from biofuel. With regard to heat, 

Iggesunds Bruk produces a surplus. As 

well as being used in the production 

process, the heat is also used to dry tim- 

Environment 

ber in a nearby sawmill and to heat 

homes nearby. 

‘We could be self-sufficient in electricity 

and independent of fossil fuel within 

the fairly near future,’ Klas Simes concludes. 

"Our goal is to be self-sufficient in electricity and independent of fossil 

fuel," comments Klas Simes of Iggesund Paperboard. The company has 

just launched a programme to reduce its emissions of carbon dioxide 

from fossil sources by an amount equal to that emitted by 20,000 cars in 

a year. 


25

26 

Analysis 

Label demand increasing 

US label shipments are forecast to 

increase 5.1 percent annually to 

USD18.3bn in 2011. Best opportunities 

are anticipated for the pressure sensitive 

segment, which accounts for the majority 

of label shipments. Pressure sensitives 

will face increased competition 

from other application methods such as 

stretch sleeve and heat-shrink labels, 

which will post more rapid advances. 

Gains in the stretch and shrink segment 

will be driven by increased use in the 

large beverage packaging industry. 

Advances in resin technologies will also 

support growth. These and other trends 

are presented in Labels, a new study 

from The Freedonia Group, Inc., a 

Cleveland-based industry research firm. 

Paper will continue to dominate the 

label industry, but will slowly lose market 

share as the use of plastic stock 

materials expands rapidly. Advances will 

be based on the aesthetic and perform- 

ance advantages of plastic labels; the 

growing use of plastic packaging; and 

the popularity of labeling methods 

which heavily rely on plastic substrates. 

Oriented polypropylene will exhibit the 

fastest growth among the major label 

resins, further supplanting polyvinyl 

chloride. 

Primary packaging will remain the 

major market for labels through 2011, 

although demand for labels in secondary 

applications will post the fastest gains 

overall. A growing interest in the use of 

labels as a tool to create a strong brand 

identity will provide favorable opportunities 

for labels in the primary packaging 

industry, as will a rising interest in 

labels as a means of serving value-added 

functions such as enhancing security 

and providing expanded product information. 

Going forward, secondary labeling 

will benefit from continued demand 

for bar coding labels; the utilisation of 

Aluminium foil sales at record levels 

During the third quarter or 2007 the 

sales of aluminium foil kept stable 

while the sales during the first nine 

months slightly increased by 1.4 percent. 

According to the European 

Aluminium Foil Association (EAFA) 

whose range encompasses EU15, 

Armenia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, 

Hungary, Norway, Russia, Slovenia, 

Switzerland and Turkey, Q3 sales 

reached 211,900 tons compared to 

211,700 tons in the third quarter 2006. 

Nine months sales went up to 663,900 

tons from 654,900 in 2006. 

The total sales which are still at a 

record level had a decreased growth rate 

due to lower exports which reduced by 

eight percent from January 2007 until 

September 2007. The usage inside the 

EAFA region increased by 1.1 percent 

in the third quarter and by 3.3 percent in 

the first three quarters of 2007. 

The very positive growth of thicker 

materials mainly used for containers and 

technical applications of the last quarterscontinued 

also in the past three 

months with an increase of over six per- 

cent. The sales of thinner gauges were 

stable over the first three quarters of 

2007. 

‘The demand inside the EAFA region 

continues on a very high level. The 

European foil rollers expect the positive 

trend to continue also in 2008’, com- 

Stefan Glimm 


radiofrequency identification (RFID); 

and electronic article surveillance 

(EAS). 

The vast majority of label shipments 

is accounted for by labels printed in 

some manner before sale to the final 

user. Flexography, which will experience 

above-average advances through 2011, 

represents the most commonly used 

label printing method. A number of 

other printing techniques are also 

employed, including lithographic, 

screen, letterpress, gravure and digital. 

These processes are commonly combined 

in the label industry. Digital technology, 

for instance, will be increasingly 

incorporated with conventional techniques. 

Digitally printed label shipments 

will continue to expand at a double-digit 

pace through 2011, aided by a growing 

trend toward the use of mass customisation. 

mented EAFA Executive Director 

Stefan Glimm 

Most aluminium foil for packaging 

Approximately three quarters of aluminium 

foil is used in packaging where 

its characteristics of strength, formability 

and barrier properties have made it an 

essential part of many flexible packaging 

and container applications. Other uses 

of aluminium foil include automotive, 

heat exchange components, insulation 

material and other industrial applications. 

The European Aluminium Foil 

Association is the international body 

representing companies engaged in the 

rolling and rewinding of alufoil and in 

the manufacture of alufoil containers 

and of all kind of flexible packaging. Its 

more than 120 members include companies 

in western, central and eastern 

Europe.

Strong growth 

in Poland 

Poland's economic growth will likely 

amount to five percent in 2008 - 

even if the US market's turmoil is taken 

into account. The Polish economy has 

strong fundamentals and is based on 

income and consumption rises according 

to Poul Thomson, the head of the 

International Monetary Fund's (IMF) 

mission to Poland. 

The government estimates 2007 

GDP growth at 6.5 percent and expects 

it to ease down to 5.5 percent in 2008 

and to stabilise at around five percent in 

the following years. 

According to the IMF, investment 

growth will remain strong - ‘sustained 

by steadily increasing EU funds - with 

continued robust growth in disposable 

income and consumption. Impetus to 

domestic demand will also come from 

the fiscal stimulus in store for 2008.’ 

The IMF expects inflationary pressures 

to remain strong despite the slow 

down in output growth. 

It also expects interest rate hikes this 

year in Poland.The central bank cut the 

rates four times last year, each time by 

25bps to five percent although it raised 

it again in January 2008. Another rate 

increase is expected. 

On the back of the expected food 

price deceleration, headline inflation 

should decline, but the IMF expects it 

to remain well above the central bank's 

2.5 percent y/y target (vs. December's 

four percent) and even above the upper 

end of the target range of 1.5-3.5 percent 

for most of the year. 

‘Sustained fiscal consolidation is 

needed and we welcome the authorities' 

commitment to gradually reduce 

the structural deficit to one percent of 

GDP by 2011’, Thomson said. This 

will help reduce public debt and contain 

the widening of the currentaccount 

deficit, he noted. 

Meanwhile, the 2008 central budget 

could be more ambitious, the IMF 

stresses, as it would actually increase the 

structural deficit by up to 0.5 percent of 

GDP, thus, a stronger reduction would 

be required in 2009-2011. 

Czech food sector 

increasingly varied 

The Czech food sector has strongly 

benefitted from the country's entry 

into the EU in 2004. Producers of foodstuffs 

have successfully coped with their 

competitors from both the neighbouring 

countries and the EU 15 countries. 

Purchase power has been growing on 

the Czech market and consumption of 

food and drinks has been continuously 

rising since 2004. In 2006 the Czechs 

spent about CZK235bn on food, drinks 

and tobacco. 

The Czech Republic has become a 

fixed part of the advanced European 

food market, demand for commodities of 

Interpack to fill centre to capacity 

The Interpack trade fair will be held 

from 24 to 30 April 2008 in 

Düsseldorf. The organisers says that it 

will fill the enormous Düsseldorf Trade 

Fair Centre to capacity. First launched 

in 1958, it will meet a new record in 

terms of participation on its half century. 

The fair will cover the latest processes 

and packaging trends in such segments 

as foods and beverages, confectionery 

and baked goods, pharmaceuticals 

and cosmetics, non-food consumer 

goods as well as industrial goods. 

One focus will be on innovations in 

fast-moving consumer goods. Included 

Events 

high quality and a higher added value 

has been increasing. Branded products 

have been more sold and ever more citizens 

start preferring healthy nutrition. 

The biannual SALIMA, international 

food fairs will be held in Brno from 4 - 

7 March 2008. It is the largest event of 

this kind in central Europe. In 2006 it 

was attended by 1085 companies from 

39 countries. The Czech Republic is also 

a major producer for the packaging 

industry and in particular in machinery. 

At the last fair a number of packaging 

products were on display. 

in this concept will also be exhibitors 

from the raw materials industry, producers 

of packaging materials, packaging 

machinery manufacturers and 

design agencies. On behalf of the industry, 

the EHI Retail Institute will partner 

the special presentation. 

The field of packaging design will be 

represented by PRO CARTON 

International – an association for manufacturers 

of cardboard, folding boxes 

and cardboard sales packaging active 

throughout Europe – and the Pan- 

European Brand Design Association 

(PDA). 


27

28 

Events 

Snow fails to stop drink fair 

Arail strike and snow storms marked 

the start of Brau Beviale 2007 in the 

Exhibition Centre Nuremberg which 

was held from 14-16 November but this 

did not deter the 34,456 trade visitors at 

last year's most important capital goods 

exhibition for the beverage industry. 

The share of international visitors rose 

in both percentage and absolute terms. 

28 percent came mainly from Austria, 

Switzerland, Belgium, Russia, the 

Netherlands, the Czech Republic, 

France, Great Britain, Italy and other 

growth markets in Central Eastern and 

Eastern Europe to source information 

about beverage raw materials, packaging 

and other technologies, logistics and 

marketing from the 1,416 exhibitors 

(2006: 1,437*) - almost 40 percent of 

them from outside Germany. 

Seeing and being seen 

According to the result of a survey taken 

during the fair, around fifteen percent of 

the visitors came from producers and 

fillers of non-alcoholic drinks whilst 

most others were from the alcohol sector. 

Of the total number of visitors, around 

88 percent are involved in investment 

decisions in their company. 

Exhibitors' views 

The CEE region provided most visitors 

although there was also a stron presence 

from western Europe as well. 

Erik Homza, Director Marketing and 

Sales of the Slovak beverage machinery 

manufacturer PSS, Svidnik said: ‘We 

supply complete solutions and have successfully 

exhibited in Nürnberg since 

1998. We had some 120 contacts this 

year - and especially important for us: 90 

;ercent of them were new customers 

from countries like the Ukraine, Belarus, 

Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, 

Italy, France, and even from Australia, 

Mexico and Chile.’ 

Manfred Thonhauser of the Austrian 

TBuH commented ‘We have met our 

customers, top manufacturers of food 

and drinks, at Brau Beviale for the last 10 

years. Our new products at this year's 

exhibition, Persulphate Technologies 

(PST) for environment;y friendly disinfection 

of beverage filling plants and 

Smart Track for water-free lubrication of 

bottle conveyor belts, attracted many 

inquiries from German and international 

customers throughout Europe, China 

and Central America." 

Machinery sales very strong 

The production volume of the some 650 

German companies with their 57,500 

employees is divided approximately 

equally between food processing 

machinery, which includes beverage production 

machinery, and packaging 

machinery, which includes a large share 

of beverage filling and beverage packaging 

machinery. Production volume in 

2006 rose by seven percent to EUR9.3bn 

EUR (up from EUR8.7bn in 2005). The 

industry's upward trend with an average 

80 percent export rate continued without 

interruption in the first half of 2007.The 

production volume grew by 15.7 percent 

to EUR4.8bn. The German VDMA 

association forecasts that twelve percent 

growth was achieved in 2007 whilst five 

percent growth is expected in 2008. 

The German packaging machinery 

segment expanded its share of the world 

market by two percent to 22 percent in 

2006 and occupies the top position far 

ahead of Italy and the USA. At the same 

time, the world market volume for packaging 

machinery rose from EUR20.1bn 

to EUR20.8bn according to the VDMA. 

Around one fifth of this figure is attributed 

to beverage packaging machinery. 

The whole segment of beverage 

machinery essentially includes some 100 

companies with 14,000 employees, 

which manufacture beverage packaging 

and beverage production machinery, 

including brewery machinery. With 37 

percent growth to almost EUR1.1bn, 

beverage machinery production in the 

first half of 2007 has already reached the 

total production volume of the whole of 

2001. In 2006, this segment of special 

machinery manufacture grew by some 14 

percent to EUR1.84bn from 

EUR1.61bn in 2005 - about 77 percent 

of this figure is for beverage packaging 

machinery. 


Events 

7 February - 9 February 

Intercharm Cosmetics Fair, 

Kiev, Ukraine 


UkrProdPack and Ukrprodmash, 

Kiev, Ukraine 

19 February – 22 February 

World of Packing, Lviv, Ukraine 


easyFairs® Packaging Innovations, 

Barcelona, Spain 

26-February – 29 February 

Pack Fair, Kiev, Ukraine 

4 March - 7 March 

Salina, Brno, Czech Republic 

1 April – 3 April, 

Foodpack St. Petersburg, 

St Petersburg, Russia 

9 April – 10 April 

Pharma PPT, Malmo, Sweden 


Cosmopack, Bologna, Italy 


Intercharm Professional cosmetics fair, 

Moscow, Russia 


Kazupack, Almaty, Kazakhstan 


Interpack, Dusseldorf, Germany 

11 June – 12 June, 

easyFairs®Verpackung Ost, 

Dresden, Germany 

16 September – 17 September, 

easyFairs®Verpackung West, 

Dortmund, Germany 

24 September – 25 September, 

easyFairs®Verpackung Austria, 

Wels, Austria

MiSSP 

A leading Russian 

packaging machinery 

manufacturer 

Company Profile 

The town of Kropotkin is 

located in Krasnodar 

region in southern 

Russia. The town has a 

population of around 

80,000 people and the 

MiSSP packaging 

company is one of the 

largest producer there. 

Ljudmila Tchizhenko told 

Central and Eastern 

European Packaging 

how the company is 

performing in this 

booming Russian 

market. 

The company was founded in 1980 as being a producer 

of equipment for special construction materials. 

On privatisation in 1991 the company turned to the production 

of packaging materials. Today it is one of leading 

domestic manufacturers of automatic and semi-automatic 

equipment for the production of PET bottles and 

other containers from polythene and polypropylene. 

These containers are mainly for the use of mineral water 

but also for products such as cooking oil. Other product 

end uses include drinks, ketchup, mayonnaise, milk and 

dairy products as well as household cleaning agents, 

pharmaceutical products and products used in the cosmetics 

industry. 

Large export market 

The company has an annual production of between forty 

and 55 machines with clients coming from a range of 

countries including Russia, Spain, Ukraine, Belarus, 

Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Moldova. 

The most popular piece of machinery is the A-3000 

which produces bottles with a capacity from 0,33 up to 

two litres at a rate of up to 3000 bottles per hour. 

The company also claims to be the only business in 

Russia producing machinery which can manufacture 

8,000 PET bottles per hour as well as a variety of other 

machines. 

Ljudmila Tchizhenko says, 'Clients choose us because 

we can offer a good price for good quality and a high 


29

30 

level of efficiency.' 

From the date of order, clients can 

have their machinery ready within three 

months. But before that can happen, 

there is the consultancy stage between 

client and MiSSP. 

'The client will come to us and tell us 

what is required. We can supply automatic 

and semi-automatic machines for 

various types of manufacturing capacities. 

The client can also decide on the 

type of pneumatic and electronic features 

of the machine as well as the individual 

types of moulds which are required. We 

will also look at the width of the film to 

be used and can accept those with up to 

1500 mm. Other add on features may 

also be required but we will look at each 

case individually and then our own highly 

skilled engineers will install the equipment 

at the clients' location.' 

Once the equipment has been sold and 

installed, it provides a full range of after 

sales service for its clients. 

'Our service centre provides our clients 

on a wide range of after sales service. 

This includes precommissioning, back 

up and post-warranty service, audit of 

equipment units, necessary repairs or the 

replacement of equipment once the 

guarantee period finishes, training for 

our clients' staff on how the equipment 

operates and of course delivery of spare 

parts and accessories for installed equipment,' 

says Ljudmila Tchizhenko. 

'When clients need to expand we will 

support them and the machinery already 

purchased. This is particularly the case 

when new moulding block are required.' 

Key suppliers 

The company has been able to forge 

ahead in this market through working 

with a number of suppliers in the business. 

These suppliers include companies 

like Festo, Omron, Airkom, Camozzi 

and Airpol. 

Festo is one of the leading companies 

working with automatic, pneumatic 

machinery as well as electronic control 

technology. MiSSP also works with 


Igor Vladimirovitch, MD of MiSSP 

them in training personnel. Festo is 

working with a number of companies in 

various industries from motor car and 

food production to IT technology. 

Omron was founded in 1955 and since 

the end of the 1970s has been closely 

associated with cybernetics. MiSSP uses 

Omron's products in machine tooling 

and to increase the degree of automation 

as well as to reduce labour costs. 

Aircom is a much younger company, 

founded in 1995 and supplies to support 

to MiSSP in communications infrastructure. 

Camozzi is based on making a workers' 

job more interesting and eliminating 

monotonous repetitive jobs at the same 

time as adding to safety requirements 

and environmental protection. For 

MiSSP it is involved with each stage of 

the design, development and manufacturing 

of its machinery. 

Airpol is a company involved in the 

manufacturing of compressors. It was 

founded in 1991 using American and 

Polish capital. It achieved ISO 9001 for

Ljudmila Tchizhenko 

manufacturing in 1991 and has a variety 

of certificates from Russian and 

Ukrainian bodies as well. The company 

concentrates on providing service on a 

turn key basis for a variety of compressor 

units. The company has developed special 

compressor units for MiSSP over 

the past ten years. 

Service 

MiSSP provides a full back up and 

service centre for its clients. This is not 

just the setting up of the equipment at 

the client's premises but long term guarantees 

and service outside of the guarantee 

period. It also carries out audits of its 

machinery and recommends 

repair 

work or replacements not only at the end 

of the guarantee period. 

The company also liases with the 

client about potential upgrades which 

would include such things as increasing 

production temp as new technology 

becomes available. In the case of breakdowns 

the company analyses the problem 

with the client and reasons for the 

breakdown are agreed upon and both 

sides discuss what they can do to resolve 

the issue. Guarantees are given on repair 

work, the length of each guarantee 

depending on the work that needs to be 

done but usually it is between one and 

six months. 

MISSP’s production facilities at Kropotkin 

'CLIENTS need to know that they 

can expect support from us,' comments 

Ljudmila Tchizhenko. 

'Clients need to know that they can 

expect support from us,' comments 

Ljudmila Tchizhenko. 'They need to feel 

secure that we will be with them all the 

way and we will use our business to support 

their business.' 

Rosy future 

MiSSP is one of the most important 

suppliers of packaging machinery in 

Russia and with the growth in the market, 

particular the food market, the 

future of the company is very promising 

indeed. This is all the more confirmed 

by the awarding in May 2007 of the ISO 

9001 certification. 


31

How can CEE Packaging help 

develop your business in 

Central and Eastern Europe? 

Contact us: 

+48 22 219 5466 

+48 502 159080 

alan@ceepackaging.com 

www.ceepackaging.com

Investment in Russia Branding in Poland Research in Germany

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