SPAIN – American multinational flexible packaging company Liquibox has opened a new flexible packaging facility in Madrid, Spain, to meet increasing demand for bag-in-box containers from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Liquibox’s bag-in-box technology can be used across beverages (such as wine): liquid foods, chemical fluids, and more.
Demand for these solutions have been surging globally partly due to the corona virus pandemic that has shifted consumer eating habits from on-premise consumption to at home consumption.
Research by packaging leader Smurfit Kappa in collaboration with Wine Intelligence found that Bag-in-Box wine attracted 3.7 million new consumers in France and the UK during the past six months.
According to the Smurfit Kappa research, France is the biggest market for Bag-in-Box wine and the UK is currently one of the fastest growing.
Apart from wine, there was also a surge in demand for flexible packaging in the grocery section with Santa Paula, Calif.-based Calavo Growers Inc. reporting that it now bags nearly 25% of its avocados, “which is pretty amazing,” according to Rob Wedin, executive vice president of fresh sales.
With new packaging facility, Liquibox is now able to effectively meet the rising demand for its products across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
The packaging company says that its new 140,000-square-foot facility will more than triple its bag making capacity in continental Europe.
The Madrid site – which includes warehouse capacity and a clean room offering more than 13,000 square feet of dedicated production space – is expected to allow Liquibox greater operational flexibility.
According to Liquibox, the new facility will also increase the types and sizes of flexible bags that the company can bring to market.
The new madrid facility follows an recent partnership between Liquibox and Oishi on a 3L and 10L metalized flexible bag with an easy-to-use connecting system to soft drinks dispensing machines.
In addition, the company purchased Liquibox’s Autokap 600 filler that allows up to 6,000 bags to be processed daily.
In a statement, Liquibox said the new packaging helps KFC and Oishi improve their sustainability profile as bag-in-box reduces packaging waste, improves efficiency from production to end-of-life resulting in fewer CO2 emissions, and is lighter than single-serve bottles.
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