Drink Production
Drink production facilities differ in the types of bottling lines they operate and the types of products they can run. There are Cans vs. Bottles, Hot-Fill vs. Cold-Fill and Natural vs. Conventional packaging. It is critical to understand the requirements of the beverage brand before you begin the production process. Demand for non-alcoholic beverages has been the catalyst for innovations in drink production in recent years, including beverage plants, processing and, packaging.
No two-beverage plants are alike. The beverage process each drink production facility implements, is as varied as the beverage packing equipment that is available. Based on the brand's requirements, the capabilities to consider include Cold Fill, Hot Fill, Carbonation, Aseptic or tetra pack, or Tunnel Pasteurization. Other key considerations are the contract manufacturing fees charged by the beverage production company to conduct a production capability assessment and locate geographically friendly locations for the facility. Freight expenses will increase if a production facility is far from main areas of distribution, or if it is far from the source of raw materials. Effectively managing the cost of goods is import for a successful drink business, and beverage production decisions have a significant impact on the cost structure.
Drink Bottling
Drink Bottling begins by treating and filtering water to meet stringent quality control standards that exceed the quality of the local water supply. Achieving this high quality of water is a critical step that ensures consistent taste profiles of the finished products. Once treated, machines pipe the water into stainless steel tanks of varying sizes, which facilitates usage during different stages of the bottling process.
Beverages Container
There are hundreds of types of beverages containers. Glass containers, plastic, PET, HDPE, aluminum, tetra and many other types of beverage containers are available at just about every grocery store. The beverages container selected for the new product should set apart it from the competitors. Several factors will ultimately determine which beverage containers will work best for a new drink. Market penetration of glass beverage containers is slowly expanding, helped by the pervasive use of bottles in wine packaging. Robust gains in some segments such as ready to drink tea and other non-alcoholic beverages, is helped by the premium quality image of glass which delivers a distinct marketing advantage.
Beverage Bottles
A beverage bottle is a rigid container for liquids with a body and a narrowed neck that opens into a mouth. Manufacturers make bottles from plastic, glass, aluminum, ceramic or other impervious materials in order to store water, milk, soft drinks, beer, wine, spirits or other liquids.
Every day, factories worldwide churn out millions of glass bottles of all shapes and sizes. Glassmaking, though, is an age-old process with glass-coated objects dating back to 12,000 BC. Before the age of modern manufacturing, artisans blew glass bottles by hand one at a time. Today, glass manufacturing is a highly mechanized process, rapidly producing uniform bottles quickly and efficiently.
The manufacturing of glass bottles involves several stages: raw material, melting, forming, annealing, first physical inspection, machine and laser inspection, second physical inspection, quality control and final packing. Producing reinforced bottles requires an additional lamination step. Coating the glass with a layer of plastic produces laminated safety glass. If an ordinary glass bottle breaks, the shards may scatter, causing safety concerns. However, if a laminated bottle breaks, the surrounding plastic seal contains the broken pieces, and the bottle is easily disposed of.