GEA acquires beverage technology brand

GEA has strengthened its market position as a total solutions provider in the beverage processing industry by finalising the acquisition of Slovenian machine manufacturer Vipoll.

Vipoll develops and produces filling technologies for soft drinks, beer and fresh dairy products. It supplies filling machines and components for beverage processing lines, including pasteurisers, mixers, carbonating and capping systems, as well as conveyor, bottle cleaning and CIP technologies.

The company’s engineers are also currently planning and building complete lines for beverage processing, which Vipoll mostly distributes to breweries, wineries and soft drink specialists in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Slovenia.

Stanko Zver, managing director of Vipoll, says, “We fit perfectly into GEA’s product range and complement the filling expertise for key customer groups.

“In addition, we share our consistent customer focus and ambition to develop technologically leading solutions for the beverage industry. With GEA’s large sales and service network, we can also penetrate regions where we have had little or no activity so far.”

Paddy Kenna, head of application centre beverage at GEA, adds, “We are pleased to include Vipoll in our corporate family.

“Breweries in particular, with their high demand for glass bottles, can benefit from the fact that we now support them throughout their entire production process from brewing to bottling and storage. That is an ideal fit to our Brewery 4.0 concept.”

For GEA, filling is one of the key technologies in the beverage industry, which increasingly demands more flexibility and efficiency in the competitive market.

Vipoll, established in 1991 employs more than 100 employees at its facility in Križevci pri Ljutomeru, Slovenia. In 2016, the formerly family owned company generated sales of approximately €20 million. To meet future demands, it is expected that GEA will expand on-site production facility during 2018.

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