Beverage Partners International (BPI) has the great pleasure of announcing that moving forward, it will offer a licensing and distribution opportunity for SUMOL+COMPAL, a world-leading market player in the fruit beverages category.

SUMOL+COMPAL is the largest juice producer in Portugal, with a global footprint in more than 68 countries around the world. The proud owner of a varied portfolio of 16 brands, the company’s offering is split across 6 different segments: juices and nectars, soft drinks, water, snacks, vegetables and alcoholic drinks.

Moshy Cohen, CEO, BPI, commented: “We are very proud to partner with S+C in their rapid international expansion. S+C is a company with unique know-how in the juice based beverage market, and excellent brands that can significantly improve the capabilities and competitive advantage of BPI’s bottlers across the world.”

Nadia Franco, S+C, Head of New Business, Int’l, added: “Sumol and Compal have great momentum in international markets. Both brands present superior products and unique positioning that perfectly fit the most important consumer trends.

“We are excited to join BPI and present licensing opportunities for it’s bottlers and distributors network across the world. We love our business, our brands and what we do. We want to keep doing better. We improve continuously and we think positively.”

Complementing a healthy lifestyle

SUMOL+COMPAL bases its ethos on inspiration it draws from fruits, vegetables and water, all indispensable natural sources of nutrition, hydration and pleasure. The global market for juice-based beverages, both fruit and vegetable-based, is projected to continue to grow thanks to innovation in the category alongside consumer demand for products that enable a healthy lifestyle.

The drive for Health and Wellness is providing huge opportunities for pioneering beverage industry players. Rising interest in non-alcoholic drinks options and beverages that complement a healthy lifestyle means that SUMOL+COMPAL offers a dynamic opportunity within the beverage category, targeting consumers with tasty, nutritious fruit and vegetable ingredients via established brands and exciting flavours.

Flagship brand COMPAL is the market leader in the Juice category in Portugal, with over 60 % market share in the country as well as a global presence, owing its loyal consumer following to its delicious and nutritional juices and nectars – picked at the perfect moment to ensure the final product is always rich in nutrients, and keeps the flavour and aroma of freshly-picked fruit.

SUMOL, meanwhile, is a slightly sparkling drink made with real fruit juice and pulp. With a wide and unique range of fruit flavours and a 62.4 % market share in Portugal, it is perfect for consumers looking for refreshment without compromising on their health and wellness lifestyle.

Meeting demand for healthy, low calorie beverages containing real fruit and vegetable ingredients, SUMOL+COMPAL’s natural products provide a unique offering that plays into its consumer for individualised products, with a unique range of fruit flavours available in its striking and iconic branded packaging.

The compliance of the declared filling volume is an important topic for all bottlers. On one hand the legal minimum values must be met and on the other hand overfilling means considerable economical loss.

The simple transfer of the juice in a graduated cylinder is quite inaccurate as the scale of such a cylinder is too wide and do not give an exact result. Additionally there will always be some remains in the bottle. Therefore this method is not precise enough for this task.

The usual continuous check of the filling volume in a filling line is done by weighing the full bottle and subtracting the average weight of empty bottle and cap. The weight of the juice can be transferred into volume by the division with the average density of the juice. This can be done automatically, but contains the risk of slightly incorrect results, as the weight of the packaging and the density of the juice normally vary within a predefined range.

This new method describes a more exact way to determine the filling volume (net volume) in a laboratory.

It is now available in the Methods of Analysis section of the IFU Website!

Together with its affiliate Stern Ingredients México, the Stern-Wywiol Gruppe based in Hamburg celebrated the enlargement of its production plant in Mexico City and is intensifying product development at the adjoining Technology Centre. The research facility will in future focus on dairy products, beverages and deli foods, too. The plant has two new production lines for food ingredients, and with 4,000 tonnes additional production capacity it will contribute to the group’s success in Latin America. After the facility in Malaysia, this is the second plant to be opened by the Stern-Wywiol Gruppe this year.

By placing greater emphasis on the development of applications in the field of dairy products, deli foods and soft drinks such as juices, nectars and concentrates, Stern Ingredients México, an affiliate of the Stern-Wywiol Gruppe, is now consolidating its position as an ingredients expert for the food industries of the Americas. The new focus of the long-established facility in Mexico will complement the already successful development of enzyme systems under the trade name SternEnzym, stabilizing systems (Hydrosol), vitamin and mineral complexes (SternVitamin) and flour and bakery applications under the brands Mühlenchemie and DeutscheBack – the latter specializing in typical regional products based on maize and wheat. Following the “custom fit” approach of the Stern-Wywiol Gruppe, leading food technologists develop the above functional systems for dairy products and beverages at this state-of-the-art applications laboratory. Furthermore, the owner-managed family business from Hamburg regards the generation of new information on applications at the research centre in Mexico as an opportunity to extend its technical services to North, Central and South America. It has also invested in the plant’s QM laboratory in order to conduct microbiological analyses, heavy-metal detection and a wide range of trial applications according to the latest scientific standards.

With around 100 employees and a total annual production capacity of 10,000 tonnes of food ingredients, Stern Ingredients México is the Stern-Wywiol Gruppe’s biggest plant outside Germany. On the one hand, the additional production capacity of 4,000 tonnes will help to meet Mexico’s increasing home demand, and on the other it will open up new export markets.