Sales Increase of 600% in Ten Years
Bad Knutwil mineral water bottling plant trusts in high product quality, customer and employee satisfaction, and KHS technology
Lutz Müller* The average per capita consumption of mineral water in Switzerland is about 122 liters per year. Much of this comes from mineral water springs in Switzerland itself, of which there are over 20. One of these is Bad Knutwil, which looks back on a long and varied history and whose success story only really began in 2001. Mineralquelle Bad Knutwil, to give it its full Swiss name, was first mentioned in 1484. For centuries spa guests especially profited from the favorable mineral properties of the healing spring water. In the middle of the 20th century the spring began marketing its product further afield, initially supplying clinics and schools and later branching out into the hospitality and food trades. The mineral water bottling plant underwent major change when the company was taken over by Robert Schmidlin in 2001. "As someone who knows the trade, my fascination with mineral water plus the fascination of owning my own company prompted me to invest in the Bad Knutwil plant at the age of 55", states Schmidlin. In retrospect this was exactly the right thing to do, as today the company is flourishing. Just recently, for example, it was able to invest in a new KHS InnoPET Blomax Series IV stretch blow molder and in a new KHS Innopro Paramix C dosing and blending system. Schmidlin continues, "We believe in only using the best technical systems for our top-quality mineral spring beverages. We've had very good experience with KHS technology right from the start." From strength to strengthWhen Schmidlin decided to purchase Mineralquelle Bad Knutwil, sales figures were at just two million liters. These have now climbed to 12 million liters, with sales continuously rising over the years without any drops or peaks in the sales curve. The company has just kept going from strength to strength. Schmidlin thinks the reasons for this are firstly the quality of the product and the fact that the range of beverages is totally geared towards the consumer, and secondly his satisfied plant personnel and their ability to quickly meet customer requirements. One of Schmidlin's main recipes for success is "to be human and remain human, and to treat your employees, clients, and suppliers with the utmost respect." This way of thinking creates a very good working atmosphere at Bad Knutwil, which 20 employees currently profit from. When the plant was taken over in 2001, the number of personnel totaled just five. Bad Knutwil's mineral water boasts favorable mineralization Thanks to its especially low nitrate (less than 0.1 mg/l) and sulfur levels (19–21 mg/l), the mineral properties of Bad Knutwil's water are beneficial and thus perfect for inclusion in a low-sodium diet and for preparing children's food. Mineral water from the Bad Knutwil spring is available in the classic carbonated version, as a moderately carbonated water, and as still spring water. One interesting point to note is that in 2001 the percentage of still mineral water sold was just 5% of the total sales figure. In the meantime, this figure has greatly increased and is now at 40%. Of the remaining 60%, 15% is attributable to the low carbonated water variant, with the lion's share going to the plant's classic fizzy beverage. Innovative soft drinks also successful on the market With sales at 80%, mineral water is still the most successful segment at the Bad Knutwil mineral water bottling plant. The spring also sells a range of interesting other soft drinks, however, these being the Orange, Grape, and Citro soda pops, and the near-water brand products RedLine, WhiteLine, and YellowLine, which are distinguished by their somewhat unusual composition. RedLine, for instance, tastes of lemon balm and raspberry, WhiteLine of elderberry blossom and grape, and YellowLine of pear, apple, and lemon balm. Trend towards PET bottles As 'young products' the company's near-water beverages are bottled exclusively in PET, with the classic soda pops and mineral waters available to consumers in both glass and PET bottles. The ratio of glass to PET fillings at the mineral water plant is 1:1. "We're seeing a clear move towards the PET bottle," says Schmidlin, "and thus a trend towards greater convenience. We're also reckoning on a strong growth in the PET segment in the future." Own edelweiss farm for CellaNova The newest development to come out of the plant, the CellaNova brand, is also only sold in PET bottles. CellaNova is a special beverage that provides natural cell protection. The beverage contains minerals, amino acids, polyphenols, cranberry and pomegranate juice, and also extract of edelweiss, among other ingredients. The beverage is designed to enhance the mental and physical wellbeing of the consumer. Former Swiss gymnast Ariella Kaeslin is brand ambassador for the beverage, consciously targeting a lively and active group of consumers. CellaNova was launched to market in Switzerland in 2010 and, despite its relatively high price (approx. CHF2.5 or €2.00 for 0.5 liters), it sold 150,000 0.5-liter PET bottles in its first year. This figure doubled in 2011. Schmidlin expects a further boost in sales for 2012. Incidentally, the bottling plant has its own edelweiss farm especially planted for the CellaNova brand so that it has direct access to the edelweiss extract needed for the beverage. "We've trodden the right path with our near-water beverages and CellaNova", Schmidlin pronounces. "Of our total soft drinks sales, the share of our 'young' soft drinks is now already 30%. And this is on the up." From the region for the region: Migros on board Mineralquelle Bad Knutwil has always marketed its mineral water and soft drinks through beverage wholesalers chiefly in its home region of Central Switzerland. The motto here is "From the region for the region", which Swiss retail chain Migros also propagates. The Bad Knutwil brand is thus part of the Migros program that places local produce at the forefront of its range. Declares Schmidlin, "We think that there's still room for further future growth in Central Switzerland. We're open to the idea of extending our distribution area in Switzerland and to other countries as long as the prices for our top-quality products are right." Hospitality trade the biggest distribution sector As a rule, 40% of the spring's mineral water products reach the consumer through food retailers and beverage superstores. However, at 60% of total sales the hospitality trade is clearly the biggest distribution sector. This particular clientele is attracted by a very special offer from Bad Knutwil, namely that if they purchase a minimum contingency of 8,000 0.5-liter glass bottles a year, the restaurant or café can have its own label printed on the Bad Knutwil bottles. The mineral water bottling plant offers events organizers a similar service for 0.5-liter PET bottles, with labels designed to suit the specific event. Here, the minimum purchasing quantity is 3,800 per order. "Our advantage here is our great flexibility and the speed with which we as a medium-sized company can react to the wishes of our customers", explains Schmidlin. "This speed and flexibility has been further augmented by us recently investing in KHS technology." From the delivery of PET bottles … In the past, Mineralquelle Bad Knutwil ordered fully blown PET bottles which were delivered to the company by truck. This meant high outgoings for transportation and that large areas had to be reserved for storage of the PET bottles. What's more, as the assortment of PET bottles was ordered based on experience, sudden changes in consumer demand or additional orders sometimes led to shortfalls in the number of PET bottles on site. By investing in a new KHS Corpoplast stretch blow molder, all of these disadvantages have been eradicated, for now PET bottles are produced just in time based on the actual amount required. .. to an in-house InnoPET Blomax Series IV stretch blow molder The machine ordered by Bad Knutwil, an InnoPET Blomax Series IV, belongs to the next generation of KHS Corpoplast stretch blow molders. It has been equipped with eight blow stations for the mineral water bottling plant, each of which can output up to 2,200 PET bottles an hour. An hourly total capacity of up to 17,600 PET bottles is possible. Benefits include energy savings, flexibility, and a small footprint The advantages of the InnoPET Blomax Series IV as opposed to the previous Series III generation lie in the fact that it uses less energy, is flexible, and has a smaller footprint. Much of this energy is saved by a newly developed heater. With it, preform heating times are just about halved compared to those needed by the Series III InnoPET Blomax. This has been made possible by now preheating preforms using shortwave infrared radiation or near infrared (NIR). All told, the energy saving achieved here is up to 40% compared with traditional heating technology. Shorter heating periods also mean that the heater only takes up half of the space previously required for this purpose. Servo-motor-controlled stretching process for maximum process stability The blow stations on the blow wheel have also been arranged so that they save space in the InnoPET Blomax Series IV. They are offset from one another and therefore positioned extremely compactly. As in the older generation, stretching in the blow stations is performed by a steel bar. However, in place of the mechanical cam-controlled stretching process used in the Series III, stretching is now controlled by a servo motor. This means maximum production flexibility, with the speed of the blow molder always perfectly adjusting itself to the specifications of the filling system in the servo-motor-controlled stretching process. If the speed of the blow molder is reduced, for example if Bad Knutwil needs to switch the size of bottle from 0.5 liters to 1.5 liters, the stretching motion can still be carried out at the same rate as at a higher machine velocity despite the slower machine rotation speed. This ensures maximum process stability. As a consequence, preforms can be optimized down to the last tenth of a gram of PET material. "Easier to operate than we thought" "We greatly appreciate the fact that our new stretch blow molder saves energy and materials especially well, giving us the utmost flexibility", smiles Schmidlin. "However, what's most important to us is that the system is extremely reliable." Robert Lisebach, member of the Mineralquelle Bad Knutwil management team, adds, "We're also excited at how easy the InnoPET Blomax Series IV is to operate and changeover. We didn't expect this." Particularly where changeovers to new bottle formats are concerned, the InnoPET Blomax again profits from the use of servo technology. There is no longer any need to change or mechanically adjust the stretch die; all that's required is to communicate the new settings to the system through the display screen. Other advantages improved changeover times entail compared to the previous generation are that no product-dependent parts are required for preforms with the same neck, and the molds are replaced in the blow stations significantly faster thanks to their new design and the Speed-Loc quick-change system. Innopro Paramix C for particularly high dosing accuracies Schmidlin and Lisebach are also very pleased with their new KHS Innopro Paramix C dosing and blending system. Says Lisebach, "We really value the fact that our Innopro Paramix C gives us particularly high dosing accuracies for syrup and carbon dioxide." Horizontal array of deaeration and finished beverage tanks The three-component Innopro Paramix C dosing and blending system continuously produces both still and carbonated beverages. Both the deaeration and finished beverage tanks in the Paramix C are installed horizontally, thereby reducing the amount of space needed for the system and creating a number of added technological bonuses. The first step in the Innopro Paramix C involves deaerating water using the two-stage vacuum spraying principle. As opposed to setups that use a vertical deaeration tank, the horizontal deaeration tank and method of spraying distribute the liquid particles over a greater surface area. This encourages successful deaeration so that in the Innopro Paramix C the residual oxygen content in the water is reduced to less than 0.3 milligrams per liter. Targeted syrup savings and fast product changeovers In the Innopro Paramix C precision flowmetering of both mass and Brix value takes place in the syrup pipe train upstream of the mixing pump. Even diluted primary syrup feeds and mixing phases are detected automatically and precisely. As a result, the mixing ratio of water and syrup can be adjusted to meet specifications at any time. Diluted syrup phases no longer have to be discarded. In conjunction with this, product changeovers can now be performed very quickly, in turn increasing line efficiency. A syrup dosing consistency of 0.03° Brix thus applies throughout production, resulting in perfect blending. KHS carbonation nozzle ensures optimum distribution and bonding of CO2 in the beverage After blending the syrup and water, the Innopro Paramix C then carbonates the product. During carbonation, a special KHS carbonation nozzle ensures that the carbon dioxide is optimally distributed and bonded in the beverage. Recipe and temperature-controlled buffer tank CO2 blanketing, plus a deaeration and carbonating procedure that has been planned right down to the last detail, bring about a clear increase in filling system efficiency. The reason for this is that the lower the oxygen values and therefore the lower the amount of foreign gas in the finished product, the less foam is formed during snifting and thus the quicker the filling process. Still beverages are produced by deactivating the carbonating stage. Everything fully automatic "The Innopro Paramix C operates and cleans itself fully automatically", Lisebach explains. "If we need to switch products, we just have to select the relevant recipe on the touch screen. It really couldn't be any easier or quicker." More than 1,000 recipes possible The number of recipes that can be kept on file in the Innopro Paramix C is virtually unlimited; there can be over 1,000 of them! "This is more than enough for our range of soft drinks", Schmidlin confirms. "One positive aspect of this wide range of recipes is that we could increase our number of contract fillings. And we believe contract fillings to be a fast-growing area of business." Convincing right from the start – and all in one container Schmidlin and Lisebach were very enthusiastic about the Innopro Paramix C right from the start, namely during the commissioning phase of their new machinery. As the Innopro Paramix C fits into one shipping container, it can be transported as a single unit with all the functional mixer modules fully integrated. Once the compact unit had arrived at the mineral water plant, all Bad Knutwil had to do was connect up the various supply lines and start production. "It had barely gone into operation when it started producing beverages", praises Lisebach. "We hadn't reckoned on such a short commissioning phase for our Innopro Paramix C. The compact design of this technical system is extremely positive for us, for it allowed us to install our Innopro Paramix C on a raised platform that takes up the minimum amount of space and is operator friendly." Positive outlook for the future under new management "All told, we believe that we're best prepared for the future, also thanks to our investment in innovative KHS technology", Schmidlin says with confidence. Schmidlin has helped to prepare Mineralquelle Bad Knutwil for the future to the best of his ability. In 2010 he sold the mineral water bottling plant to Oskar K Schwenk. In the new owner Schmidlin has opted for someone who in buying the mineral water company was just as motivated by his fascination with water as Schmidlin was almost a decade ago. "Even under new management our philosophy of producing the best-quality products and being and staying human will continue", stresses Schmidlin. "After two years as managing director, I can confirm this. And this makes me quite sure that Mineralquelle Bad Knutwil has a rosy future ahead." * Manager of KHS GmbH Switzerland, Wolfwil. Phone: +41 (629) 262313