For Kwas and Beer
Radomyshl brewery invests in KHS PET line with ultra-clean filling block
Jaroslaw Niebisch*
Ludmila Enke**
The Ridna Marka Corporation, a Ukrainian group with headquarters in Kiev, is famous above all for one thing: supplying consumers of high-quality products with a correspondingly convincing taste experience. Founded in 2000, the Ridna Marka Corporation has become one of the Ukraine’s leading food and beverage suppliers within the last eight years. In the last four years alone, the company has tripled its sales volume. Today, the Ridna Marka Corporation product range includes predominantly different beer styles, kwas, fruit juices, nectars, and fruit drinks plus vegetable products, sauces, and ketchup. In 2004, the Ridna Marka Corporation became known worldwide through one of its companies, the Radomyshl brewery. The brewery won two awards that year for its South German-style wheat beer (also known as Weizenbier), Etalon, creating something of a storm within the international brewing world. Firstly, it was awarded a gold medal for the best wheat beer at the Beer World Cup 2004. This was followed by a gold medal for the best wheat beer in the world at the Brewing Industry International Awards competition. Pavel V. Rodnin, president of Ridna Marka: "These awards mean a lot, not least as proof that we are on the right path with strict quality control and that we have placed our trust in the right partners." One of these partners is KHS, which has worked together with the brewery from its earliest times to the present day. From the start of its brewing activities, KHS has not only acted as a turnkey supplier of filling and packaging equipment, it has also supplied comprehensive advisory services for building planning and the organization of brewery activities. KHS' consulting even included selection of the master brewer responsible for the development of the highly awarded wheat beer brand. Rodnin says "To this day KHS has been a trusted and competent partner. Because KHS' top quality requirements for technology and systems are a perfect match for our demands for high quality, we chose KHS once again for our most recent investment into PET filling and packaging equipment for beer and kwas.
* Sales Manager, Ukraine, KHS AG, Bad Kreuznach, Tel: +49 (671) 852-2608
** General Director (KHS) Ukraine, KHS AG, Kiev, Tel: +3 80 44 4 61 93 62
From a microbrewery to the fifth largest player in the Ukrainian market
The rise of the Radomyshl brewery to become the fifth largest player in the Ukrainian beer market would have been inconceivable in 2001. That was when the Ridna Marka Corporation took over the brewery in Radomyshl, a small town located about 100 km from Kiev. The origins of the brewery date back to 1886. The Radomyshl brewery was founded by a Czech family whose beers were already popular in the region thanks to their high quality. At its peak as a regional brewery the Radomyshl brewery’s yearly planned capacity reached 100,000 hl. The brewery suffered a decline after 1991 however when Ukraine became a sovereign state. In 1996, the beer output dropped to a mere 10,000 hl. After the Ridna Marka Corporation took over the Radomyshl brewery it carried out initial maintenance investments and implemented optimization methods until in 2002 the planned capacity once again reached the former levels of 100,000 hl per year. The product range at this stage was comprised only of Pils which was distributed, as in the past, throughout the region.
Beer sales were 10% wheat beer, 90% Pils
The idea to produce wheat beer as well as Pilsner came in response to studies of the Ukrainian beer market which projected that wheat beer could achieve a future market share in the Ukraine of 7 - 10%. For wheat beer enthusiast Rodnin this was sufficient reason to invest in the development of wheat beer and to launch its South-German style wheat beer, Etalon, later followed by its Kristall wheat beer. Although these two wheat beers account for 10% of the Radomyshl brewery sales today, the 7 - 10% market share of wheat beer in of the Ukraine, however, has not been achieved. Rodnin explains "The wheat beer segment so far amounts to just 1% of the Ukrainian beer market. This is partly because the market for premium beers has not grown as rapidly as predicted."
Around 90% of the beer sales at the Radomyshl brewery is currently from the traditional Radomyshl brand Pilsners which are well established on the market. Since mid 2008, the beer product range has grown to include the new range of premium beers under the umbrella brand "Radomyshl Brauerei Bier". As with the wheat beers, the products in this premium range, including “Golden Lager”, “Classic Pilsen“, and “Old Brown”, are sold only in glass bottles, not in PET containers. Rodnin says "In the Ukrainian market, the glass bottle still indicates the premium nature of a beer.
Kwas is very popular
In 2007, the Radomyshl brewery added the refreshing carbonated beverage kwas to its product range. Kwas is becoming more and more popular in the Ukraine where per-capita consumption is currently around 8 liters per year. Experts expect the annual per capita consumption of kwas to keep increasing rapidly with demand reaching around 20 liters within the next three years. Rodnin says "We rate our chances of gaining an above-average share of the growing Ukrainian kwas market with our high quality product as being pretty good." The Radomyshl brewery expects to sell about 150,000 hl of kwas in 2008. Beer sales are set to reach the 350,000-hl mark. The high rates of growth calculated for the future by the Radomyshl brewery are illustrated in the forecasts for 2009. Kwas and beer sales are expected to be equal by this time, at volumes of 600,000 hl respectively.
KHS PET line meets the highest demands of Radomyshl-quality kwas and beer
Investment in new PET filling- and packaging equipment was necessary to achieve these sales figures. KHS was the choice once again. Rodnin says "We have extremely strict requirements for our new PET line, not least in terms of microbiology, because it is used for filling both kwas and beer. KHS has implemented all our requirements in a line that simply couldn't be any better. We are very satisfied with the quality of the line technology."
Particularly for filling kwas, a highly sensitive product, the system needs to meet top quality standards. The premium quality-oriented Radomyshl brewery is one of only a few companies in the Ukraine that brews all of its beers in accordance with the German Purity Law. Kwas is manufactured using the natural fermentation process. Kwas is a product of the fermentation of the basic ingredients water, rye, and malt. Rodnin says "We are confident that our consumers can tell the difference between our natural kwas and those kwas products produced using synthetic components. By 2011, we expect to be supplying 40% of the Ukraine kwas market with our Drevlyansky kwas brand plus 5% of the Ukrainian beer market."
Kwas is normally sold in PET bottles in the Ukraine. The Radomyshl brewery supplies its Drevlyansky kwas brand in 0.5-, 1-, and 2-liter PET bottles. In the medium term, however it is looking at marketing kwas in glass bottles in order to exploit the premium connotations of this style of bottle for its high quality beverage.
System capacity 25,200 PET bottles per hour
The new KHS PET line process approx. 25,200 0.5-liter PET bottles per hour. PET bottles are now produced in situ by an InnoPET Blomax stretch blow molder. Each of the 14 cavities of the blow molder produces 1,800 PET bottles per hour. The PET preforms are fed automatically into the InnoPET Blomax stretch blow molder and are heated in the machine oven according to a precisely defined heating profile. They are then stretched mechanically and inflated by compressed air. The freshly produced PET bottles leave the mold, are turned, and then transferred to the Innoline LTR air conveyor. The blow molder incorporates a fast format part changeover module. Molds can be changed in a very short time which guarantees the high efficiency of the line.
The ultimate consulting service for PET bottle production.
In addition to the technical system, KHS Corpoplast supplies the Radomyshl brewery with a comprehensive consulting service for the design and optimization of PET bottles for kwas and beer. This was preceded by intensive testing of bottle types at KHS Corpoplast's "Bottles & Shapes Technical Center". One of the options was to focus on reducing the weight of the PET bottle. This resulted in a bottle production with reduced material costs and lower energy consumption.
Gentle and reliable PET bottle conveying
After production, the Innoline LTR air conveyor transports the PET bottles reliably and gently by their necks under extremely hygienic conditions. It is equipped with an automatic rail adjustment to compensate for different PET bottle sizes. A special radial blower integrated into the air duct of the air conveyor ensures reduced flow loss and minimum energy consumption. Specially shaped louvers also drastically reduce the amount of air needed for conveying. A row of louvers arranged along the sides effectively prevents air from being blown directly into bottle mouths. The conveying speed can be adjusted as required by frequency control.
Rinser-filler-capper monoblock in ultra-clean room
The rinser-filler-capper monoblock of the new PET line is housed in an ultra-clean room to meet the high standards required particularly for kwas and to realize a filling process, which is as germ-free as possible. The technologically relevant part of the roof of the ultra-clean housing is equipped with filter units that filter and clean the air for the clean room. Within the housing, there is a permanent flow of air from the roof to the floor with a slight positive pressure with respect to the outside bottle shop area. This provides the open bottle conveyors with a continuous supply of filtered air and specifically prevents the entry of unfiltered bottling shop air. Gaps in the paneling ensure that the air introduced to the isolator can escape into the bottle shop.
Two-channel rinsing system offers flexible options
The rinsing system in operation is an 80-station Innoclean FR-ZM designed to treat the PET bottles with two rinsing media. Rinsing media can be varied depending entirely on production requirements and can be perfectly adapted to the specific task. This is good for both the highly sensitive kwas product and for traditional beer styles for which simple rinsing with sterile water is sufficient. Specific rinsing programs are defined and stored in the system for kwas and for all beer styles. Changing to a different rinsing process for a different product or bottle involves pressing a button on the display screen.
Volumetric filling process with long filling tubes
The PET bottles are filled using a computer-controlled Innofill DVF, a pneumatic pressure filling system, an extremely gentle volumetric filling method using long filling tubes. Filling the PET bottles by means of electromagnetic inductive flow metering ensures exact fill levels which in turn leads to product savings. Thanks to the bottom-up filling process, a key factor for perfect beer as well as for high quality kwas, the products take up very little oxygen, just 0.02 mg/l. At the same time, CO2 consumption is only 600 g/hl and ensures specific cost savings. The superbly flexible design of the Innofill DVF filling system makes it completely future-proof. The Innofill DVF can be programmed to fill a wide range of different bottles sizes and bottle shapes. The appropriate filling program is retrieved at the press of a button.
Plus top-of-the-line hygienic design for capper
The Innofill SV Servo screw capper is the system’s capper. This capper is characterized by its simple, open, hygienic design as well as the constant capping force which provides increased bottle opening convenience for consumers. A push of a button is all that is needed to change Innofill SV-ACF settings. In addition, all parts of the capper are open and allow for easy cleaning.
One-stop shopping – fully-automated process engineering is part of the package
The principle of one-stop shopping is of vital importance for ultra-clean filling. At the Radomyshl brewery, the latest in fully automated KHS process engineering is integrated into the line in the form of the Innopro flash pasteurizer and Innopro CIP system.
Height-adjustable conveyor
The PET bottles are removed from the rinser-filler-capper monoblock via a height-adjustable conveyor which further reduces setup times when changing bottle types. The task of labeling is handled by a modular roll-fed/cold glue labeler, after which the PET bottles are transported to the Innopack Kisters SP shrink packer.
Packing and palletizing equipment located in separate area
To meet its maximum hygiene requirements, the Radomyshl brewery has a separate shop for packing and palletizing equipment. The Innopack Kisters SP shrink packer processes the waiting pack formations, which vary according to the bottle type, in single lanes. High flexibility is the key here as new pack formats are implemented quickly. The Innopack Kisters SP modular design is equally well equipped to cope with possible changing packaging requirements in the future. The existing system can be upgraded, for instance, if the Radomyshl brewery decides in the future to market not only shrink packs but also pad-shrink packs or tray-shrink packs. Other optional equipment such as leaflet inserters can also be easily integrated on request. There is even the option, and space reserved, to integrate a handle applicator into the line at some point.
The Innopal PB1N2 gives outstanding service as a palletizing system. It is designed according to the KHS modular dry area concept and works with PC-based robot control. Complete layers are transferred from the layer preparation table to the pushover plate of the palletizer. Each layer is centered from all sides prior to discharge onto the pallet. The result is perfect layer formations, gentle product handling, and high overall stability of the pallet load. The line inserter goes into action automatically after each layer is released. The intelligent use of servomotors, cog belts and the PC-based robot control means a low-noise operation with minimum wear which results in substantial savings in terms of maintenance and service costs and guarantees high machine availability. The pallet wrapper downstream from the palletizer secures the pallet load.
Vladimir Kimlik, General Director at the Radomyshl brewery is enthusiastic. "The overall design of this line is every bit as good as our KHS glass and KHS keg line. We are highly satisfied." Rodnin adds "All in all, KHS systems enable us to supply our customers with the top quality products defined in our company philosophy."
Our slogan is therefore still "Nothing less than top quality"
With the promise to offer customers nothing less than top quality, the Radomyshl brewery, a member of Ridna Marka Corporation, is set to continue its expansion in the future. The former regional brewery has long since become a nationwide operation. Around 7,000 restaurants and 25,000 outlets within the Ukraine currently carry products from the Radomyshl brewery. Added to this are exports to several countries, in particular Russia, Moldavia, and Belarus. The predominant export is the traditional Radomyshl Pils. The renowned Etalon wheat beer however is exported mainly to Western Europe. Incidentally, it has received yet another award in the UK. It is Tesco's top imported beer. In answer to the question as to whether the highly acclaimed Etalon wheat beer will be entered in future beer competitions Rodnin says: "We have received the highest awards possible within the international beer industry. It is as far as you can go. However, we don’t rule out the possibility of entering the products of our new premium "Radomyshl brewery beer" range into competitions. So the brewing industry has something to look forward to. And who knows, they may soon again be saying that the best lager, Pils, or even stout comes from the Ukraine ...
