Taking place in Lagos, Nigeria, from 20 - 22 September 2016, the event will mark the debut of Sidel in the West African version of the show and is part of its commitment to supporting beverage producers in Nigeria and neighbouring countries.
"The African continent represents a large and growing market, second only to Asia in terms of development. Sidel's objective here is clear - to further enhance our offering to customers by strengthening our local presence through the implementation of a powerful network of local service centres. This allows the technical support that beverage producers require in meeting their production objectives," said Dominique Martin, Sales Director for Sidel in Africa. "The West African market is particularly important as it rapidly responds to innovative solutions to address market needs, which are constantly growing and evolving."
The increasing personal wealth of Nigeria's inhabitants has the potential for a possible 'westernisation' of consumer spending habits. This, along with the growing population, means that the market in the area is one of vast potential for producers. The soft drinks segment of the market is driven by bottled water. Over the past six years, consumption of bottled water has more than doubled in volume from 18.9 billion litres to 38.8 billion litres.
To a much lesser extent the market is made up of sales of carbonated soft drinks (CSDs), milk and juice. The second largest category - CSDs - increased from 1.4 billion litres to 2.1 billion litres during the same period. Over the next four years to 2020, consumption of bottled water is expected to increase to 52.4 billion litres. Sales of CSDs are anticipated to reach 2.6 billion litres, while juice and milk are expected to attain sales figures of 1.0 and 0.1 billion litres respectively.
In this dynamically expanding marketplace, Sidel will be showcasing its innovative complete line solutions. These solutions help beverage producers, particularly those competing in the fiercely competitive bottled water market, to capitalise on the opportunities that are presenting themselves. With a focus on complete, customised PET?bottling lines, Sidel will be highlighting the way in which its equipment and services enable beverage producers to optimise performance at the lowest possible TCO (Total Cost of Ownership).
Sidel will also be contributing to the high-level conference programme staged alongside the exhibition that will include presentations, technical classes and panel discussions with personnel from leading companies within the region and the global beverage industry. Georgios Diakakis, Regional Commercial Manager & Key Account Manager at Sidel, will be discussing the latest innovations in PET packaging with a focus on sustainability, complete line solutions, high efficiency and longevity while constantly keeping operational costs to an absolute minimum.
Sidel has undertaken many successful projects in Africa. In Nigeria, a bottling line is producing carbonated cola at the Ikeja plant of the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC), the country's major plant for the production of Coca-Cola brands. As the sole franchise bottler for the Coca-Cola Company in Nigeria, NBC is producing PET bottles in 500ml formats at a capacity of 42,000 bottles per hour (bph) and in 1,500ml formats at 22,000 bph.
Fruital Coca-Cola has a Sidel complete PET line operating at its Algiers plant, with a smooth installation process that allowed production of CSDs in 1 litre and 2 litre formats at 18,000 and 16,000 bph respectively. Guedila, Algeria's leading supplier of bottled mineral water, were supported by Sidel in a project to install a new 36,000 bph line with two high-capacity accumulation tables and a completely robotised end-of-line after redesigning its bottle. In Morocco, Les Eaux Minérales d'Oulmès worked with Sidel to carry out improvements in the design and resistance of its packaging - with the line changes fully implemented in a tight timeframe to meet the company's peak production period.
Over 3,000 visitors are expected to attend ProPak West Africa 2016, part of the ProPak series which also stages events in East Africa and Asia. The event is dedicated to providing the latest developments in the packaging, plastics and labelling industries. The three-day show will be staged at the Landmark Events Centre in Lagos, Nigeria, and is set to attract visitors from all segments of the supply chain.
