The English company Copella produces a world-famous apple juice in the Suffolk region using Cox's Orange Pippins apples: one of the most valued apple breeds, created in 1825 by Mr. Richard Cox.

Copella apple juice has been considered for a long time as a healthy drink: it used to be bottled in green glass bottles and sold in selected shops.
Copella was acquired in 1989 by Boxford international group; the founders, Peake family, acquired back the activity in 1992, when Boxford group decided to retire from the soft drinks market. From this moment on a growing period starts for Copella: after a couple of years, a complete range of 100% apple juice and mixed juice drinks is launched on the market. In 1997 Copella is sold to Tropicana UK: Copella later enters Pepsico together with Tropicana.
Copella Fruit Juice business has experienced many changes from its establishment, the latest being a complete redesign of its corporate image, the adoption of new squared bottles that are designed to emphasize the natural colour of the product and that, at the same time, to reduce warehousing and distribution costs thanks to their compactness. Nevertheless, Copella has always strived to keep their distinctive qualities: good taste, simplicity and natural flavour.
One of the key investment to achieve this target is the utmost attention to bottling technologies that can preserve the quality of the finished product. This is where Procomac got involved with Copella; being a traditional technology supplier of Tropicana with its flagship aseptic technology, Procomac has been chosen to supply an ESL (Extended Shelf Life) ultra-clean filling line for a production speed in excess of 20,000 bph.

The line features a Gripstar ACE GX sterilizer and rinser with electronic control of treatment times. This is a technology developed for aseptic filling, as it ensures a precise control and a high repeatability of treatment parameters independently from line speed.
A Fillstar Fx volumetric electronic filler is housed next to the steriliser/rinser. Its design with a magnetic flowmeter for each filling head ensures a high filling level precision; the hygiene of the filling environment is guaranteed by the filler design (no contact between filling nozzle and bottle neck during filling) and the adoption of a microbiological isolator.
The scope of supply includes a UNIFLUX SPIN utilities sterilisation system, a UNICLEAN SPIN sterilising solution production unit and CIP unit and a UNITHERM product pasteuriser. Their high level of integration with the rest of the line accounts for reduced installation times and simplified maintenance.
A Procomac CHECKSTAR filling level, cap and label inspector completes the supply.
With the commissioning of this system, based on the technological platform developed by Procomac for its aseptic filling lines, Tropicana will be able to further expand its presence on the UK market for fresh high-quality fruit juices.
This is a promising market, as a recent government campaign against obesity-related illness is promoting the consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables.

(05/29/2007)