BRASSERIES HEINEKEN NEW PET BOTTLING
Line Description
period in 1998, the 33 Export 50cl
bottle was nationally launched in 1999,
naturally followed by the 50cl Panach',
shandy leader in France in January 2001
and the one-litre bottle for33 Export
The advantages of PET bottles, lightweight,
unbreakable thus safer, easy opening and
re-closable, are more and more
appreciated by the beerdrinkers and
overcome the before use perception of
drinking beer from plastic. The good
acceptance by the consumers is confirmed
by the constant growth of sales, which
induced Brasseries Heineken to invest in
this fully dedicated bottling line.
Flash-pasteurisation is obviously used for
the PET bottles and in the dry part many
robots ensure the necessary flexibility as
many pack types are possible: corrugated
cartons, multi-packs, shrink-trays etc...It
also allows very short change-over times.
The capacity of the line is 20,000 bottles
per hour for the 50cl bottles and 15,000
bottles per hour for the one-litre.
On June 25th, 2001, Brasseries Heineken
has inaugurated a new, ultra modern
bottling line, fully dedicated for the
bottling of beer in PET bottles. The
investments were over 50 million French
Francs (over EURO 7.2 millions) and
confirm the full confidence that Brasseries
Heineken has in PET.
Brasseries Heineken has always considered
innovation as a major factor for growth,
and the development of PET for beer is one
of its best examples. After a successful test
The new bottling line was installed at the
brewery of Mons-en-Baroeul (close to Lille)
in a new building where the highest
hygienic standards were applied; the filling
area being also in an atmosphere of ultra-
clean air pressure. The whole project has
been realised by the French engineering
department in close co-operation with HTS.
New technology incorporating next
generation line concepts has been
introduced in order to guarantee the
highest quality, productivity and flexibility.
The new PET bottling line
