Tetra Pak Acquires Miteco to Strengthen Carbonated Soft Drinks Capabilities

04 Mar 2014 --- Packaging solution specialist Tetra Pak has announced the acquisition of Switzerland-based Miteco, a leading provider of production solutions for soft drinks, fruit juices and liquid food, with a particular strength in carbonated soft drinks. The acquisition will extend Tetra Pak’s capabilities for beverage production and processing and it will also expand Miteco’s current global reach, thanks to Tetra Park’s established business presence in more than 170 countries worldwide.

The acquisition enables Tetra Pak to strengthen its position with several important beverage customers, a Tetra Pak spokesperson told Food Ingredients First. “And Miteco will be able to extend its global reach through Tetra Pak’s sales channels in more than 170 countries around the world,” he said. “In addition, the acquisition strengthens Tetra Pak’s position in beverage production solutions, especially in carbonated soft drinks.”

Tim High, Executive Vice President of Tetra Pak Processing Systems, explained that the acquisition positions Tetra Pak as a world leader in production solutions for carbonated soft drinks, “with an unrivalled product portfolio backed by strong technical support and broad geographic presence”, he said. “It also extends the company’s beverage production capabilities in a number of key areas, including sugar handling, dissolving, refining, mixing and blending beverage ingredients, providing an important complement to our existing portfolio of processing solutions.”

Established in 1982, Miteco is a privately held company with 70 employees across sites in Switzerland, Italy, UK and South America.

Guillermo Fernandez, Sales and Operations Director of Miteco says, “We are confident that becoming part of Tetra Pak will allow the Miteco business to continue to grow. Tetra Pak’s global presence, plus the combined knowledge and skills of our two companies, promise improved solutions and better services for both existing and future customers worldwide.”

Tetra Pak is already involved in the production and manufacturing of some carbonated soft drinks, but until now its focus has been predominantly in juices and dairy drinks. Miteco will add enhanced capabilities to Tetra Pak’s ability to package carbonated drinks, with extensive expertise in the manufacturing process for these drinks, including: the preparation of sugar solutions, water deaeration, blending and mixing of flavours and concentrates, carbonation and then packaging.

The news of this acquisition bolsters Tetra Pak’s strategy of enhancing its food and drink processing capabilities. At the end of last year the company acquired the US-based Filtration Engineering Company, a US expert in membrane filtration technology for the dairy and cheese industries.

The acquisition, for an undisclosed sum, combined Filtration Engineering’s expertise in spiral membrane technology with Tetra Pak’s existing ceramic membrane systems portfolio, thereby expanding Tetra Pak’s broad-based portfolio of system and application knowledge for dairy, cheese and whey processing applications.

“The acquisition of Filtration Engineering strengthens our portfolio of products, solutions and services for dairy and cheese applications as well as provides us with additional knowledge and competence,” said Tim High, Executive Vice President Processing Systems, Tetra Pak.

By Sonya Hook