Packaged beverages have officially started rolling off the line at Suntory's +$400 million multi-beverage manufacturing facility in Ipswich, Queensland, with the new plant including a high-speed glass line and two canning lines supplied by Krones, and a kegging system from KHS.
Global drinks giant Suntory says the start of production at the Queensland facility marks a “significant milestone” in its growth strategy, with its new $3 billion partnership, Suntory Oceania, set to launch from mid-2025. The new facility, also due to open in mid-2025, represents the largest FMCG investment into the country in the last decade, and will operate as a manufacturing and distribution hub for Suntory’s entire multi-beverage portfolio of more than 40 market leading brands.
Australia’s number one energy drink, V Energy, was the first product off the line. By mid-2025, the facility will also produce Suntory’s iconic ready-to-drink (RTD) alcohol brands, including -196, Canadian Club and Dry, and Jim Beam and Cola. RTD is the fastest growing liquor category, with a 20 per cent share of all liquor sales in Australia. In addition to the RTD range, the 'House of Suntory' portfolio will be distributed from Queensland, including luxury whiskies Yamazaki, Hakushu, and Hibiki, alongside Roku Gin and Haku Vodka.
The site has the capacity to hold over 50,000 pallets of product, with the production floor boasting leading-edge fill speeds: the two canning lines combined can achieve a rate of 180,000 cans per hour, while the glass line speed is 35,000 bottles an hour. Apart from meeting the demand for speed and capacity, flexibility and automated changeover also had to be engineered into the lines which will ultimately fill and pack 60 different stock keeping units (SKUs).
Suntory Beverage & Food Oceania CEO, Darren Fullerton, described the first drinks production at the new site as a “pivotal moment” for the company.
“We are excited about the growth this will unlock for Suntory in the region, and the opportunities we will be able to offer our people, our customers, and our consumers,” Fullerton said. “Full ownership of our supply chain will enable more capacity, more control and most importantly, more opportunity to innovate. With this new site we are well positioned to disrupt and ignite the category with our full multi-beverage offering.”
The facility boasts strong sustainability credentials with a combination of renewable energy sources via 14 kilometres of solar panels and a power-purchase agreement with Queensland electricity provider, CleanCo. This, combined with sustainable heating and cooling technology and onsite waste management and water recycling facilities sets a benchmark for sustainable manufacturing.
“Our Queensland operation will be entirely carbon neutral,” says Fullerton. “This commitment to sustainability and Growing for Good goes to the heart of Suntory’s DNA and I’m so proud that we can deliver on this commitment here in Oceania.”
Suntory Global Spirits Oceania MD, Mark Hill, says the team is looking forward to the next phase of commissioning, enabling the manufacturing and distribution of Suntory’s alcohol portfolio.
“Our Queensland facility complements our global production footprint, which includes distilleries and bottling sites in North America, Europe, and Japan, and will expand our capability and capacity to deliver for our customers like never before,” Hill said, noting that the facility is central to Suntory Oceania, with the company “thrilled” to be harnessing the region’s great local talent, strong infrastructure and connectivity to power this next phase of growth.
Once fully operational, the facility will deliver 160 new permanent roles to support the manufacturing, distribution, and sale of the portfolio.
High-end equipment
There were many suppliers involved in this large-scale project. Process Partners managed parts of the line integration, with key equipment suppliers including Krones and KHS.
ICI supplied the roll-on roll-off (RORO) system, integrated by Krones, enabling all the bulk glass bottles and cans to be fed directly from the trucks into the lines. The RORO system at Suntory comprises a total of eight truck docking stations (including consumables disposal), reducing the need for storage space on site.
The Krones canning lines are fully automated and integrated, comprising a Pressant Universal bulk can depalletiser, Contiflow mixer, Modulfill VODM-C can filler, Lina Therm tunnel heater, Variopac Pro packer and Modulpal Pro palletiser.
The glass line includes a Pressant Universal bulk glass sweep-off depalletiser, Contiflow mixer, Moduljet container rinser, Modulfil HES filler, Lina Therm tunnel heater, Ergomodul labeller, Robogrip automatic carton blank feed unit, Variopac Pro packer and Modulpal Pro palletiser.
Efficiency and speed of changeover on the lines are supported by a line management and digital service offered by Krones. This will, for example, automatically pass on recipes and best-before dates to the lines, based on a changeover matrix, reducing both operator errors and the time needed for a changeover.
KHS supplied the Innopro Paramix C, a multiple-component mixer for the continuous blending of carbonated and non-carbonated beverages. It combines the necessary deaerating, mixing, and carbonating production steps contained in a compact machine frame. This flexible machine design makes it equally suitable for blending fruit juices, juice beverages, and carbonating mineral water, as well as alcoholic RTD beverages.
The fully automatic KHS Innokeg CombiKeg system, which is able to produce and fill all Suntory kegged variants, includes a washing and racking system to provide a complete line. It is equipped with two exterior washing stations, two caustic soaking stations, five active interior washing stations, and one racking station. A conveyor, a control box, exterior washing, and media tanks are integrated into the machine. The equipment runs at speeds of 60 kegs per hour for 50-litre kegs and 80 kegs per hour for 30-litre kegs.
PKN will continue to bring you news on the plant's development as it unfolds.
