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From left: Philip de Weerdt, MD, Nampak Rigid Plastics; Jonathan Jooste, GM, CCF Northern Region; Dave Curran, Divisional Director, CCF Southern Africa; and Ephraim Msane, MD, Nampak Petpak.

In February last year, Petpak opened its first Coca-Cola in-plant at Peninsula Beverages (Penbev), the Coke Company's Bottler in the Western Cape area. The in-plant includes a two-litre bottle-blowing machine. The CCF in-plant is parent company's second for the Coca-Cola System and the eighth in their Rigid Plastics portfolio.

The CCF Sig Corpoplast Blowmax 20, installed in Polokwane, has capacity to produce 30 000 two-litre bottles, or 36 000 500ml or one-litre bottles an hour. As a key feature of the Bottler's investment strategy, the decision was taken to invest in a larger machine in order to meet the requirements of future growth. CCF acquired the necessary infrastructure and Petpak procured the technology.

CCF is deeply rooted in Limpopo, having first invested in Polokwane in 1979. The city is also the headquarters of the Bottler's South African Northern Region, which is its largest territory in the country, with sales of over 50 million unit cases a year. Some 1 200 people, servicing some 11 500 outlets, are employed by CCF.

The machine was commissioned in September and began operating in October, at the start of the Bottler's busiest period.

A major advantage of an in-plant is that a technical team is permanently on-site. At CCF, the Petpak staff complement is 10 people. Another benefit is the 24/7 packaging supplier presence, which ensures more streamlined planning and enhanced efficiencies across the entire supply chain.

Rigid Plastics MD, Philip de Weerdt, says that the CCF partnership is an important development in Nampak's relationship with the Coke System.

“Penbev has been running for nearly a year and the results have been extremely positive, so much so that the customer has now expanded the current set-up. The CCF in-plant has been going since the 1st of October. This is having many spin-offs for our Petpak business, with a number of other Coke Bottler plants coming on board to achieve similar successes in their territories.”