Coconut snack maker expands into milk using an aseptic packaging solution

A coconut snack food maker in China has chosen Sidel’s Aseptic Combi Predis to enable it to expand into the beverage market through the production of its coconut milk.

Established as a coconut food snack maker, Hainan Chunguang Foodstaff Co launched its coconut milk on the market in 2022. The Sidel aseptic solution was chosen as it provided a complete service provision across the entire line and had the ability to use dry technology over traditional wet aseptic solutions, which allowed the manufacturer to meet economic and environmental sustainability targets.

Based on Hainan Island, also known as Oriental Hawaii where coconuts are naturally grown and sourced as a raw material, Hainan Chunguang is able to produce coconut milk, from plant to bottle, locally.

Bottled in Sidel’s PET design in a 350 mL format, Hainan Chunguang’s installation can run 28,000 bottles per hour (bph) and adds to the 100+ aseptic line installations previously placed across Greater China.

The packaging solution is suitable for sensitive products, especially those made of natural ingredients such as coconut. Sidel’s Predis aseptic filling solution, with dry preform decontamination, uses hydrogen peroxide mist for packaging sterilisation, which is designed to ensure product integrity, production flexibility, cost efficiency and sustainability. Using no water in the process and only a small amount of chemicals to decontaminate the preform, the Predis is designed to ensure a safe product with increased shelf life.

Xin Yan, Hainan Chunguang Board Member, said the company’s decision to move into the beverage market in 2020 was the result of many years of preparation, including product development and identifying technical resources needed to deliver the product.

“As this was the first time that Hainan Chunguang had expanded to the market of sensitive beverages, expertise and proven results played significant roles in identifying a partner to engage with for the installation of this solution.

“We have been very satisfied with the service we have received from Sidel from the point of engagement to aftersales support.”

Min Xianglong, Sidel Account Manager, said sustainability and total cost of ownership were significant factors in Hainan Chunguang’s decision to choose the Sidel solution.

“Sidel’s dry solution addresses and benefits both of these issues. We are happy to have been able to work alongside our customer in their first venture into aseptic packaging and pleased that we have satisfied the company through performance across both machine installation and project delivery. We hope this is the first in a line of projects working with Hainan Chunguang,” Xianglong said.