Refresco, the world’s largest independent bottler of beverages for leading retailers and premium brands, has installed the first Sidel Swing Evo tunnel pasteurizer at its production site in Sulmona. This milestone marks the first industrial deployment of Sidel’s next-generation pasteurization technology in Italy, supporting Refresco’s ongoing focus on operational efficiency, resource optimisation and compliance with evolving environmental and customer requirements.
Designed around an intelligent counterflow concept and modular architecture, Swing® Evo enables beverage producers to precisely control water, energy and thermal treatment at each stage of the process – delivering measurable efficiency gains without compromising product quality or flexibility.
A strategic investment supporting operational resilience
As a global beverage solutions provider, Refresco integrates ESG into how it runs its operations and serves its customers. At the Sulmona plant, the decision to install Swing® Evo was driven by these priorities.
“The last challenge we decided to take on, following Sidel’s proposal, was the installation of an innovative pasteuriser,” explains Tullio Tiozzo, manufacturing director and strategic operations, Refresco Italia. “This technology supports more efficient management of energy and water within our operations. Compared with our previous solution, we achieved a reduction in energy and water consumption by a factor of 15 to 20, bringing us fully in line with our ESG commitments. This project has been a great success, thanks to the level of innovation it brings compared to traditional pasteurisers.”
Intelligent energy recovery and proven efficiency in operation
The Swing Evo installed in Sulmona integrates two heat exchangers – one fed by hot water, one by steam – enabling intelligent prioritisation of recovered heat from cogeneration systems.
“We were looking for a reliable and versatile solution, capable of combining efficiency with energy performance,” says Daniele Di Luca, utilities & energy manager, Refresco Italy. “Swing Evo met all these expectations. By prioritising recovered heat, we significantly reduced steam consumption. Water consumption is fully in line with declared figures, while electrical consumption is even better than expected – clear proof of the machine’s high efficiency. This supports our Group-wide objectives on energy efficiency and resource management.”
Quality, flexibility and ease of use on a complex product mix
Beyond sustainability, pasteurisation accuracy and operational flexibility were key requirements for the Sulmona site, which handles a wide variety of products and SKUs.
“From a quality and thermal treatment perspective, the Sidel pasteurizer has proven extreme reliability,” comments Federica Schiavo, QFS Assurance Specialist, Refresco. “Swing® Evo respects all pasteurization constraints, whether in terms of PU units or holding times above specific temperatures. It is flexible, easy to use and simple to monitor, even with very different products.”
This performance is supported by Sidel’s PRINCE X predictive control system, which continuously analyses temperature evolution and dynamically adjusts spray conditions to prevent under- or over-pasteurization.
Fast installation and operator-friendly design
Thanks to its compact, modular and largely pre-assembled design, Swing® Evo was installed and commissioned at the Sulmona plant in just one week.
“What really impressed us was the simplicity of installation,” says Leonardo Di Vito, technical and production manager, Refresco. “The pasteurizer arrived mostly pre-assembled, and both installation and start-up were completed smoothly, without any issues.”
Designed for daily operational efficiency, Swing Evo features sliding front doors, full top access and tool-free maintenance, ensuring safe, fast and comfortable interventions for production teams.
Performance through intelligent simplicity
The first Italian installation of Swing Evo at Refresco Sulmona demonstrates how targeted technological investment can support improved efficiency, resource performance and operational simplicity. By optimizing every drop of water and every kilowatt hour of energy, Swing® Evo helps beverage producers in meeting customer expectations and regulatory requirements – proving that sometimes, innovation is about rethinking essentials rather than reinventing everything.
