Page 36 - Food&Drink Magazine October 2018

PACKAGING EQUIPMENT & MATERIALS
✷ A GOOD DROP
TESTING THE WATER
Monitoring and maintaining water purity is a critical process for beverage processing operations, and one that Beloka Water takes very seriously. This task involves assessing both mineral levels and water microbiology.
“We do internal tests every production cycle, as well as third-party tests once a month,” says Michael Thompson, production manager at Beloka Water.
The company sourced its onsite testing equipment from IDEXX Water, saying the supplier went above and beyond the call of duty, even visiting their rural production facility to help them establish state-of-the-art water testing capabilities.
“Companies with great reputations, like Beloka, place a premium on producing a safe and high quality product,” IDEXX Water director of global marketing at Darren Alcock says.
“They need reliable, accurate and efficient tools to ensure that dangerous bacteria do not make their way into their beverages during the production process.”
He says consumer beverage companies often also need help developing a regular water testing plan and support or training on how to properly conduct tests or provide their samples to an outside lab.
“As suppliers are more and more responsive to customers, having flexible in-house testing solutions as well as external lab partnerships is valuable,” Alcock says.
LEFT: Beloka Water comes from a protected single subterranean source at the foot of the Snowy Mountains in NSW.
BELOW: Production materials such as caps, labels, and boxes are all purchased locally.
Last year Beloka received a gold medal in the sparkling category at the International Fine Water Tasting Competition held in China.
“To achieve this title we were held up as the leading standard for taste, purity of water and the abundance of nutrients and minerals in the water itself,” says Commisso.
In its state-of-the-art water plant at Beloka, the water passes through a variety of filtration processes, with very little manual handling, which Commisso says has also contributed to its success.
“It is here that we polish our water,” he says.
Beloka also counts itself as a member of the Fine Water Society, an invitation-only organisation established in 2008 to recognise manufacturers of nutrient-rich, pure water.
“As a member of the Fine Water Society, we’ve earned our place amongst the best mineral waters on the market,” Commisso says.
Although Beloka does add carbonation to its sparkling water, he says it is the natural mineral makeup of the water that characterises its flavour and helps to form its distinctive smaller bubbles.
These attributes have also made Beloka a popular choice for restaurants in Australia, attracting the likes of celebrity chef Luke Mangan, who sells Beloka Water under his own private label.
“The contemporary glass bottle and label design fits into any epicurean context, and the lightly sparkling version with its
“ We only bottle as required, which means we don’t store any unused water,
but leave it in the aquifer.”
small bubbles is very food friendly,” says Commisso.
SUSTAINING SUCCESS
Sustainability and protection of the local water table sit at the heart of Beloka Water’s processing facility, says company founder, Joe Commisso.
“We only bottle as required, which means we don’t store any unused water, but leave it in the aquifer,” he says.
“We’ve capped our bore and log its level rigorously on the advice of geoscientists, to ensure it remains sustainable. The theory is that we’ll never run out because of the methods we use to draw the water.”
The production facility is powered by a 30 kilowatt solar array on the roof, and materials such as caps, labels, and boxes are all purchased locally from
Australia. Beloka’s glass bottle supplier also uses a proportion recycled glass in all of its products.
Commisso says local transportation company, Stewarts Transport, also helps meet sustainability targets by delivering water to the company’s Sydney depot where it can be distributed interstate, and then bringing back all the raw materials the company uses in production.
Its modern, automated processing facility came from very humble beginnings, Commisso adds, with constant improvements and upgrades to meet growing production goals.
“As new technology has come along, we’ve added it to our production equipment, so we now have a much more efficient process than we had when we set it up seven years ago”. ✷
36 | Food&Drink business | October 2018 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au