Modernisation of a bottling line for a Moroccan agro-industrial SME

Frais Caprices is a Moroccan agro-industrial SME, specialised in the production of table condiments, such as mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, but also other products such as mozzarella and cream. Its products are distributed in supermarkets, snack bars and local restaurants.

As part of the agro-industrial value chain, the company sources raw materials (egg, milk, butter, tomato and oil) from local and foreign suppliers, and produces several finished products.

The company applied for funding and technical assistance under the Green Value Chain (GVC) programme for its investment in a 240 ml sauce bottling line. The investment line consists of eight machines ranging from a buffer tank to a conveyor installed after a labeller. The eight machines that make up the bottling line are a double-jacketed buffer tank, an 800 mm bottle infeed table, an Afinomaq LC4 automatic filler, a MOD.CE32 automatic capper, a decapper, a Super Seal induction capper, a self-adhesive labeller, and bypass conveyors. This investment was evaluated by the GVC engineering team for its technical and economic feasibility and for its positive impact on the company’s competitiveness.

The return on investment for this 231,000 Euro project is estimated at 3 years.

The company’s competitiveness should improve due to productivity gains and energy savings of 24 MWh/year (28%). In addition, the company should be able to reduce its GHG emissions by 13.73 t CO2eq annually.

Green Value Chain (GVC) in Morocco is a credit facility of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development(EBRD) to provide funding to local partner financial institutions for on-lending to Moroccan SMEs belonging to agribusiness, processing industries and logistics value chains and ecosystems. Supported by the European Union, the Green Climate Fund(GCF), the Korean Technical Assistance and Cooperation Account (KTACA) and the EBRD Shareholder Special Fund (EBRD SSF), the facility aims to improve competitiveness of SMEs and that of their value chains and ecosystems through highly efficient green investments.