Growing China functional beverage market leads to increased capacity for Danone's Mizone drinks

According to data from Euromonitor, the functional drinks market in Greater China is forecast to continue to grow at a CAGR of 15% from 2016-2020.

Mizone, owned by Danone, produced one billion litres in 2012, while off-trade sales reached nearly US$1b in 2013.

While sales of Mizone had dipped in recent years due to heated competition in the functional drinks sector and de-stocking, they have been picking up more recently.

Mizone introduced new energy drinks with taurine and green tea plus ginseng extract in China.

The new Mi-Pro range also has sodium — which the previous range was free from — to further target consumers who lead an active lifestyle and or who engage in sports.

Greater capacity for beverage bottling growth​

Nanjing Ziquan, a member company of The Shanghai Ziquan Beverage Company Limited, recently installed a second complete hotfill PET line to increase production capacity of the drink.

The new Sidel line runs at a speed of 36,000 bottles per hour.

This installation follows positive results from a similar complete hotfill PET line the company installed in 2013.

“The earlier Sidel line had been maintaining an operating efficiency of 95%+ and has even been upgraded recently, so that its output speeds for the 600ml bottle format increased from 30,000 bottles per hour to 34,500 bottles per hour,” ​said a spokesperson for Nanjing Ziquan’s management.

Both Sidel lines comprise a Sidel SBO Heat Resistant blower with 20 blowing stations, Sidel Matrix SF700 hotfiller, conveyors, labeller and packer.

Nanjing Ziquan bottles beverage products in PET bottles for brands such as Danone, Coca-Cola and others, for distribution in Greater China.