“Filling matters” at BrauBeviale: GEA VIPOLL filling expertise makes GEA a full-range supplier of brewing technology

Joint sales network: ALL IN ONE travels around the world

Since the acquisition, GEA VIPOLL has recorded numerous project successes: During 2018, it supplied customers in Croatia and Sweden with its ALL IN ONE rinser/filler/capper block. GEA VIPOLL is currently building an ALL IN ONE filler for beer, soft drinks and water for craft brewer East Coast Brewing from South Africa, which placed a follow-up order after the installation of a GEA CRAFTSTAR™ brew house. In October 2018, GEA VIPOLL will also deliver the first multifunctional filler to partner Foodmach in Australia. In the coming months, the plant will be commissioned at the site of Lion, one of the largest food and beverage producers on the Australian continent. 

"With the first orders for the ALL IN ONE in South Africa and Australia, we have achieved exactly the effect we wanted for the beverage – and in particular, the brewery – business. We can now successfully enter new market segments,” said Paddy Kenna, Head of Application Centre Beverage at GEA, upon signing the contracts.

Bottling expertise complements brewery business

Via the acquisition of the Slovenian mechanical engineering company VIPOLL d.o.o. in January 2018, GEA has strengthened its market position as a full-range supplier to the beverage industry. GEA can now also fill beverages in glass and PET bottles as well as cans that do not require sterile processing. This segment now complements aseptic filling, in which GEA is already the innovation leader for blow molding and filling processes, especially for PET and HDPE bottles. 

“Last year at drinktec, we presented the ‘Brewery 4.0’ concept. This includes continuous production and the late-differentiation approach. Our technologies are now being enhanced by highly flexible, multifunctional filling lines from GEA VIPOLL, which meet the demand for complete solutions,” adds Kenna.

“Flexibility is our strength”

GEA VIPOLL strives to be a machine and process integrator for its customers. Managing Director Gunnar Hepp, who joined GEA VIPOLL from GEA’s brewing division at the beginning of the year, emphasizes: “Our focus is on continuity. Flexibility and client proximity are our strengths. We will continue to cultivate this so that we can help shape the innovative dynamics of the market. We are one of the agile, spearheads of GEA, at the leading technology company, whose sales network and expertise in the food and beverage industry provides our business with additional impetus.”