Harris International of Uganda has commissioned a Sidel Combi line for bottling carbonated soft drinks (CSDs), juices and water under the Riham brand, well established in Uganda, said Sidel.
Over the next five years, Uganda is expected to rely less on imports in meeting its rising demand for food and beverages, especially juices, added Sidel.
Before the new line was installed at Kampala, Harris bottled only still water on its existing Sidel PET line.
But the firm aimed to meet rising local demand while supporting local agricultural producers and gaining a manufacturing advantage through installing automated aseptic processing technology, said Sidel.
Andrews Ruben, Harris’s managing director and CEO, said the company plumped for a capacity of 16,000bph rather than its original goal of 8,000bph.
Sidel has a local presence in East Africa, where it has been working since 1991, and recently opened a Sidel Services centre in Kenya.
“Harris decided to go with Sidel for a number of reasons, including the flexibility of the solution and the open, transparent and regular communications towards the project,” he said.
“Harris also wishes to express its gratitude to Sidel and its Kenyan team for all its great and valued input. They passed on their technical knowledge to the Harris team, so they could understand the solution in-depth.”