Lausanne, Switzerland, 1 April 2009 - Tetra Pak, the world leader in food processing and packaging solutions, today announced net sales of Euro 8.8 billion in 2008 - up 5 percent from 2007 in comparable terms.
Packaging Solutions reached €7.8 billion in sales in 2008 - an increase of 4.5 percent over 2007 and sales of Processing Solutions reached €949 million in 2008, up 9.3 percent over the previous year.
Continuing growth in Central and South America, the Middle East, China, South and Southeast Asia and also in North America and Southern Europe drove the rise in Packaging Solutions’ sales, while Processing Solutions benefited from new sales generated by the acquisition of two specialist food processing firms as well as sales growth in virtually all regions. Overall, sales growth declined during the last quarter of 2008 due to a slow down in capital equipment investment and lower demand caused by stalling economies and the global credit crunch.
“During these economically difficult times it is more important than ever to provide our customers with value-driven solutions. With our current strategy, investments to meet market needs and drive to continuously improve quality and operational efficiency we are well positioned to support our customers to remain competitive,“ said Tetra Pak President and CEO Dennis Jönsson.
In 2008, Tetra Pak continued its planned investment in new plant and equipment around the world, announcing plans to invest to build a state-of-the-art packaging material manufacturing plant in Pakistan and in new equipment in order to increase production in Brazil and Italy.
To strengthen its portfolio of complete production solutions for cheese and dairy powder, Tetra Pak acquired two specialised food processing companies, Downer MBL Pty Ltd and Downer MBL, from Australia-based Downer EDI.
Tetra Pak launched two breakthrough product solutions in 2008 as part of the company’s drive toward cost-effective innovation:
Tetra Pak iLine™ solutions, a new generation of high-performance aseptic carton packaging solutions takes line integration and automation technology to a new level thanks to a novel process control and information management system. Depending on the configuration, the more robust and operationally efficient Tetra Pak iLine™ solutions customers to increase capacity and reduce operational costs by up to 40%, depending on the configuration. This product portfolio includes the Tetra Pak® A3/CompactFlex iLine, the Tetra Pak® A3/Flex iLine and the Tetra Pak® A3/Speed iLine.
Tetra Lactenso™` Aseptic, a new generation of customized aseptic production solutions that enable dairy producers to achieve superior and consistent product quality while reducing operating costs by up to 20 percent and minimizing their environmental impact. The company developed a new approach in which Tetra Pak custom-designs an end-to-end production solution for each customer based on their particular performance requirements. Tetra Lactenso Aseptic solutions contain new technologies, such as Energy Hibernation and IntelliCIP and upgraded existing equipment such as the Tetra Therm Aseptic Flex for indirect UHT treatment, and Tetra Alsafe aseptic buffer tank.
In addition, Tetra Pak launched the Tetra Top® packaging solution for high acid ambient distribution (HAAD) of still drinks and global availability of Tetra Gemina™ Aseptic, the world's first roll-fed gable top shaped package with full aseptic performance for the packaging of both juice and milk-based products.
In 2008 Tetra Pak supplied a record 141 billion individual packages used by leading food and beverage companies around the world to deliver over 70.6 billion litres of milk, juice, fruits and other products to consumers. That represents a 3% rise over the number of beverages consumed in Tetra Pak cartons in 2007.
“Despite today’s tough economic situation we are confident in the future of the food sectors in which we operate,” said Jönsson, noting that consumption of basic nutritional food products such as milk and juice continues to grow.
The company also supplied an additional 503 packaging machines, 1,838 processing units and 1,372 pieces of distribution equipment in 2008. Tetra Pak operates 16 technical training centres, 41 technical service centres and12 research and development facilities around the world to ensure continued product innovation and excellence in customer service.