Food & Beverage Asia December 2020/January 2021

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PROCESSING AND PACKAGING
Dominique Martin, vice-president for
beverages equipment sales, South
East Asia and Pacific, Sidel, told Food &
Beverage Asia: “We see ProPak Asia as the
most important and largest trade event
for food and beverage, pharmaceutical
processing, and packaging technology
in the region. It is the place where the
roadmap for the industry in South East
Asia over the coming years is decided
upon driving business and innovation. It is
success-oriented, pragmatic, and dynamic.
Here, brand owners, manufacturers and
converters can get a glimpse of the future
of the packaging industry, and in the case
of Sidel, the new solutions that we are
developing.”
Sidel also brought along the ecopackaging
AYA, which reinforces the
company’s commitment to sustainability,
offering a new packaging alternative for
still water. AYA is a 220ml water bottle
with a targeted weight of just 5g. It is
blown from recycled PET (r-PET) preforms,
and comes with a snap-on tethered cap
to additionally reduce plastic pollution.
The bottles’ V-shape offers packaging
alternatives in terms of compactness
and reduction of secondary and tertiary
packaging materials to optimise logistics.
“The show provides an excellent live
platform to explain our promise of
Performance through Understanding, and
understanding the strategy behind it,”
he added. “With ground-breaking new
technologies, products and solutions
presented here, ProPak Asia is recognised
as the leading platform for innovation
within the beverage and liquid food sector
in South East Asia. It is proving the ideal
stage where to showcase our markettailored
technologies, powered by Agility
4.0 and complemented by performancebased
services.”
BUSINESS AS USUAL DURING A
PANDEMIC
During the COVID-19 pandemic time, Sidel
has been able to provide support and keep
contact with its customers via the Sidel
Service Online. Available in six languages,
the e-platform is a web interface that
provides operators with a personalised
overview of their installed base and
real-time information on parts pricing
and availability. It also offers a one-stop
shopping for ordering Sidel original spare
parts, together with faster delivery times
on offers and orders.
The web interface provides operators
with a full overview of their installed Sidel
equipment, including all relevant technical
documentation and detailed e-catalogues,
for intuitive navigation, spare parts search
and identification. Information about
the availability and price of spare parts
is accessible online to maximise uptime.
Long-term maintenance plans and safety
lists will secure critical parts to ensure
continuous line productivity. In addition,
Sidel’s Parts Administrators are available
to provide support when operators wish to
speak with a company expert.
Martin elaborated on the after-effects
COVID-19 has had on the company and
summarised the year for the food and
beverage industry. He said: “The situation
is actually similar to other companies or
businesses, such as prolonged investor
pending or delayed decision making,
etc. Private sector companies put more
concerns on new investments, whereas
global companies normally keep the
investment as planned in the budget.
“Before COVID-19, the overall forecast
of South East Asia and Pacific (SEAP)
beverages consumption should have
increased by 2% in the next three years.
Nevertheless, owing to COVID-19,
everything becomes very unpredictable.
It is assumed that consumption of
carbonated soft drinks might decrease, not
just because of the pandemic but also due
to taxation on sugary in several countries
and general awareness of healthy
lifestyles. The demand for health and
daily consumer goods is still increasing
such as water, vitamin water, liquid dairy
product or beer – especially in Vietnam
and Cambodia.”
Sidel Combi BD blow-moulding system combines bottle production and labelling in a single machine
He explained the crisis first hit the sale
of alcoholic drinks and carbonated soft
drinks category, as these are the main
beverages sold in restaurants and bars, in
addition to the already shifting consumers’
interest to healthy products. This is
followed by premium and brands products
due to decrease of purchasing power, and
FOOD & BEVERAGE ASIA DECEMBER 2020 / JANUARY 2021