FIRDI and SIG Combibloc establish competence centre for the creation of innovative product concepts

SIG Combibloc has entered into a new partnership in Asia that will enable customers to try out and test product ideas quickly and reliably. SIG’s cooperation with the Food Industry Research and Development Institute (FIRDI) in Taiwan allows Asian food and beverage manufacturers to carry out short-run test fillings of new products. These test fillings, such as innovative drinksplus beverages with perceptible particulate content, can be the key first step towards turning product ideas into success stories.

For this purpose, a SIG Combibloc CFA 112 filling machine with drinksplus kit was installed at FIRDI in March of 2017. FIRDI was established in 1967 as a non-profit organisation with the aim of offering consulting services for the regional food industry. The organisation’s main focus is on working with companies to produce cutting-edge strategies for the food industry, to improve the quality of processed foods, try out new technologies and carry out practical testing of new products for the Asian markets.

Klaus Andresen, Director Global Engineering & Application at SIG Combibloc: “We’re confident that the partnership with FIRDI is very much in the interests of our Asian customers. With the partnership, our customers are now able to systematically test new product ideas quickly, flexibly and cost-effectively in actual practice and evaluate strategies for product development. The Institute has many years of experience and broad expertise in the area of the Asian food industry and the development of new products. We’re delighted that our customers will now benefit from the combined expertise of FIRDI and SIG Combibloc.”

Because added-value products sell particularly well in Asia, the drinksplus solution from SIG Combibloc offers numerous possibilities for the creation of new products. Using this technology, beverages containing up to ten percent particulate content can be aseptically filled on standard filling machines from SIG Combibloc.

drinksplus: Enormous Potential

Chii-Cherng Liao, Ph.D., Director General at FIRDI: “When drinking drinksplus products, consumers are able to feel the product’s added value, for instance in the form of bits of natural vegetables or fruit, nuts or cereal grains, directly on the tongue. In these trendy beverages, we see enormous potential for the Asian market. We’re proud to be working with SIG Combibloc and food industry manufacturers to test exceptional products and quickly turn them into successful realities. Thanks to the drinksplus kit, manufacturers now have the technological resources to create a huge range of added-value products”.

Test fillings are not the only services that SIG Combibloc can offer customers in cooperation with the FIRDI. The partnership also provides comprehensive support for the customer’s product development and in optimising existing filling lines. The official start of the strategic partnership was celebrated in April with an opening ceremony.