Arca Continental Lindley S.A. in Peru is one of the latest major bottling companies to opt for SIPA equipment to produce and fill PET containers for soft drinks.
The company, also known as the Lindley Corporation, has been in business for well over a century, manufacturing, distributing, and marketing non-alcoholic beverages. With seven plants around the country, and headquarters in Lima, it is the official bottler and distributor of all Coca-Cola products in Peru.
Five years ago, Lindley integrated its operations with Arca Continental, one of the most important Coca-Cola bottlers in the world. It is best known for its creation and marketing of Inca Kola, the top-selling soft drink in Peru. Today, Lindley produces soft drinks, water, juices, isotonics and energizers. Employing more than 4,600 collaborators, it serves more than 340,000 thirsty customers in Peru.
A few months ago, SIPA installed a major new bottle blowing and filling line for juices and tonics at Lindley’s plant in Zarate, an area of Peru’s capital city Lima. Lindley is using the line for Frugos nectar and Powerade sports drink products, in various formats from 300mL up to 1L. The principal elements of the line are an SFR24 EVO stretch-blow molding unit, a Flextronic SE 108 volumetric gravity filler, and a Genius-PTF Fastlayer palletizer.
The Flextronic SE filler is particularly flexible, with its ability to handle a wide range of non-carbonated drinks, including hot-fill liquids. Output for smaller bottle sizes is 40,000 bottles per hour, while capability for 1-L bottles is 28,000/h.
Daniel Schweyer, SIPA’s Key Account Manager for Coca Cola, says that with the new line, Arca Continental Lindley has gained the important advantage of being able to standardize its hot filling lines in the South America region.“We had already installed two SIPA hot-filling lines for the group in the region, one in Quito in Ecuador and another in Salta in Argentina.The customer was very satisfied with both of those lines, so it made a lot of sense for them to extend its partnership with us.
“We think Arca Continental Lindley also appreciated our willingness to solve any problems that may have occurred during startup.”
The Flextronic SE filling monobloc, equipped with “no contact”, double speed shutter filling valves made in AISI 316L low-carbon stainless steel, is designed for hot-fill applications in ultra-clean configurations. This makes it suitable for hot and cold filling of sensitive products such as premium fruit juices containing non-homogenized pulp. Gaskets and plastic components in contact with the product are realized with food-grade material and in accordance with the sanitization and sterilization processes. Hot-fill applications work with in-valve recirculation.
Each valve is provided with a magnetic flow meter and a pneumatic shutter valve: the movement of the command stem is protected by a membrane in compliance with the highest hygiene standards. An optional second membrane valve, mounted in series, regulates the double filling speed to optimize the filling cycle.