"King of Beers" takes home Sidel's 5000th stretch blowmolding unit

Anheuser-Busch InBev is the owner of the 5000th stretch blowmolding machine made by France’s Sidel. The beer giant is using the new unit to blow 2- and 3L PET bottles in Romania, one of the world’s top 10 countries for beer consumption.

Sidel only just reported the sale but the machine has been in operation since April 2009. With 5000 stretch blowmolding machines installed since the 1980s, Sidel is able to claim market share of about one-half of total machines worldwide. Leading competitors include Corpoplast, Sipa, and Krones.

The 5000th blowmolder is an SBO 14/20 Universal and joins a stable of about 40 Sidel blowmolding machines in operation at Anheuser-Busch InBev. Beer consumption in Romania, home to the new SBO, was 100L per capita in 2007, according to the brewer; ABInBev there markets global brands (Beck’s, Stella Artois), multicountry brands (Leffe, Hoegaarden) and also local ones (Bergenbier, Noroc, Löwenbräu). ABInBev’s market share is nearly 20% in Romania, where almost 48% of beer bottles are made from PET. (Beer per capita consumption in 2004, which is the latest data freely available on the Internet, had Hungary ranked #17 at 75L per year.) —[email protected]