Safeway adds drinking water and spring water to its own-brand line-up

In early 2003, the US grocery giant Safeway launched plans for bottling its own line of still drinking water and spring water. Krones delivered a turnkey 33,000 bph bottling line that includes a rinser-filler Bloc and a Contiform S24 blow-molding machine. This new addition to Safeway’s private label line-up is now being produced in Merced, California, in a space previously used for producing peanut butter.
The bottling line handles 500 ml, 1 liter and 1.5 liter bottles as well as 8 oz, 20 oz and 700 ml containers with screw caps or sports caps (for 1 liter bottles). The integration of a Contiform means that only 3 trucks a week loaded with preforms are needed to supply the line instead of 6 trucks a day loaded with PET bottles.
Safeway’s production of its own water bottles is efficient and cost-effective, saving the company several million dollars each year. And it’s fast, too – producing 562 blow-molded bottles a minute.
A Variojet rinser and Isofill VG-PET-CIP filler are contained in a clean room with purified, monitored air flow. “The rinser-filler Bloc is an important component,” explains Jerry Tidwell, Safeway’s Vice President of Supply Operations. “With the variety of products we handle, we had to separate the water plant from the tomato and other food products. The bloc enclosure, the system’s accuracy and the ability to keep out all contamination offered a cost-effective solution for several logistical and processing tasks.”