At FFCE, we offer turnkey solutions for people developing and producing RTS beverages of very high quality. We provide product development services involving formula creation, all the way to process enhancement and company standards compliance. To ensure that the beverage you take satisfies the qualities and taste that is required in the market. Our team helps the company in the selection of ingredients, packaging and packaging design, and sensory analysis for the final product that will distinguish it from others on the market. 

As top beverage consultants, specializing in plant establishment and the enhancement of production systems, we guarantee cost-efficient production of RTS beverages including juices, iced teas and dairy products. This ranges from the machinery setup to quality audits to the certification; FFCE has all the technical expertise and operational solutions to fulfill your RTS beverage concepts.

What are RTS Beverages?

RTS beverages are specialty drinks in the beverage market which are ready for consumption without any further preparation. Manufacturing RTS beverages involves formulation of the products, with regards to taste, thickness, and sugar or calorie content. It’s too important for eradicating hazardous microorganisms, keeping the safety and the shelf-life, but not for changing the taste of a beverage. It also led to an improved even distribution of the particles of the homogenized product thus avoiding separation and finally enhancing mouthfeel. Certain beverages can be subjected to pH control, in order to minimize the chance of spoilage. Sanity checks for microbial activity, flavor standardization and the robustness of the packaging process are performed at every level so as to meet food safety measures and consumer preferences.

There are a number of pieces of equipment that are involved in the production of RTS beverages. It is also important to note that mixing tanks are used to dissolve basic fluid such as water, milk or juice with essences, sweeteners, and any other ingredients it. If this is not feasible then pasteurizers or UHT systems offer microbial safety in terms of heat treatment without any effect on the taste of the milk. They are used to achieve a standard consistency for the product, especially for products based on milk. Filling machines then aseptically fill the beverages into bottles or cartons that will help to reduce contamination. Handling equipment closes the packaging, affixes labels, and boxes the product while preservation systems store the drinks at temperature and other conditions appropriate to their current station before distribution.

Types of RTS Beverages

A wide spectrum of RTS beverages available in the market targets different consumers and product preferences are offered. Below are some common types:

  1. Fruit Juices
  • Profile:
  • It is made from fruits like oranges apple, grapes, any berries, and tropical fruits like bananas.
  • Made in both neat and compound varieties.
  • Benefits:
  • Nutritional Value: Rich in vitamin C and antioxidants vitamins. Some juices have accessory nutrients such as calcium and Vitamin D added to them.
  • Variety: Comes in many different tastes: traditional and familiar like apple or orange, and the exotic like mango or passion fruit.
  • Applications:
  • Culinary Uses: Taken separately, or in drinks and different recipes for other recipes and dishes.
  1. Vegetable Juices
  • Profile:
  • Raw food which is produced from vegetables including tomatoes, carrots, beets and greens.
  • Can be added to fruit juices to increase the taste.
  • Benefits:
  • Nutritional Value: They are also packed with Vitamin A, C, and K along with minerals such as potassium and magnesium and antioxidants. An excellent source of dietary fiber and other phytonutrients.
  • Health Benefits: Helps to enhance the immune system function, assimilation and digestion as well as many other Body’s functions.
  • Applications:
  • Culinary Uses: The coconut milk can be consumed in its own right be added to soups or salads or used as a beverage base e.g. when making smoothies.
  1. Flavored Waters
  • Profile:
  • Water that is aromatised with fruit or herbal essences.
  • It is also provided in still and sparkling water.
  • Benefits:
  • Hydration: This offers a new refreshing means through which people can keep water, free from sugars and calories.
  • Variety: It comes in several varied and very light natural flavors.
  • Applications:
  • Culinary Uses: Taken in form of a drink, normally when diluted and taken cold.
  1. Herbal and Functional Drinks
  • Profile:
  • Flavored or garnished with herbs, spices, vitamins or minerals and / or carry health benefit of an adaptogen.
  • Some examples of these herbs include ginger, mint, chamomile and ginseng etc.
  • Benefits:
  • Health Benefits: It can be used to address certain health aspects or needs for relaxation, energy, digestion or immunity.
  • Variety: Provides cusine palates with one of a kind and unusual tastes.
  • Applications:
  • Culinary Uses: Used because of their qualities and unique taste, respectively.
  1. Tea-Based Beverages
  • Profile:
  • Created from brewed tea, which includes black tea, green tea, white tea, oolong tea and herbal tea.
  • Sometimes added with sugar or other fruits, and enhanced with addition of herbs or spices.
  • Benefits:
  • Nutritional Value: May enhance heart health and properly functioning by providing antioxidants, catechins, and flavonoids.
  • Variety: Includes the usual Hedley’s black tea to the more exotic chai and Japanese green tea – matcha.
  • Applications:
  • Culinary Uses: Drunk as a beverage, best when take hot or cold.

RTS Beverages Production cycles

The processing of RTS beverages requires several important stages to guarantee the best quality, homogeneity and safety.

  1. Choosing of specific ingredients and where these can be obtained

Objective: Always use natural ingredients so that you can enjoy the best taste and food safety. 

Process: Selecting quality produce directly from farms and other food sources, for meats and poultry, seafood, eggproduce, and dairy products. Quality, however, when it comes to bread and other baking products focuses on the freshly baked bread, availability of organic bread, and the ability to track where the ingredients came from.

  1. Although extracting juice and concentrating it can both be performed by the same equipment, it’s important to differentiate between the processes.

Objective: Separated and concentrated the flavors and the nutrients of the raw material for the food to be made. Process:

Extraction: Involves techniques like pressing, crushing or blending food like fruits and vegetables, to produce their juice form.

Concentration: Extraction of water to enhance the essence or the nutrient value as perceived by the palate. It can be done through evaporation or thermally driven reverse osmosis.

  1. Blending and Formulation

Objective: Blends should be optimally made and aromatic. Process: Mixing juices with various flavors, sweeteners and other additives in correct proportion. This stage implies a trial of taste and then calibrating the taste to the right levels.

  1. Nevertheless, the focus is made on the main types of food processing: pasteurization and preservation.

Objective: Safeguard product against microbiological spoilage and increase the product’s shelf-life. 

Pasteurization: Boiling the beverage which eradicates any pathogenic organisms in the beverage. Others are High Temperature Short Time (HTST) pasteurization or Ultra Heat Treatment or (UHT).

Preservation: By incorporating natural methods of preservation or employing processes such as aseptic processing so as to preserve the freshness of the food they are incorporating without changing the taste of the food.

  1. Quality Control and Testing

Objective: These factors enables one to guarantee the safety, standardization and quality of the final product. 

Process: Conducting appearance, aroma, flavor, texture and other sensory tests, chemical and microbial examination etc. Maintaining that the beverage tastes good, is nutritious, and safe for consumers’ health.

  1. Packaging and Labeling

Objective: Preserve the commodity and also disseminate information about it. 

Process: Bottling, canning or using suitable cartons to package the beverages in the right packaging material. It is therefore necessary that the packaging meet these functions; being able to show signs of tampering, being able to protect the product from oxidation as well as providing convenience. Labels consist of nutritional informatin, contents description, dietary and any other health message as may be required.

Designing of Packaging Material Ready To Serve Beverages

All products need packaging and especially RTS beverages in order to preserve their quality, freshness and also appealing looks. Key packaging materials include:

  1. Bottles

Materials:

Glass: It provides great antioxidant protection to the beverage and retains its natural taste as well. It is also as fully recyclable as paper, glass is widely utilized for premium products.

PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate): Inexpensive, Creating solid appearance,,No/can be easily recycled. PET bottles find application for various kinds of beverages because of their 

convenience and relatively good barrier properties.

  1. Cans

Materials:

Aluminum: The material is very flexible, is fairly light and should be very strong while also helping to form a barrier to light and oxygen. They are also reusable, especially for carbonated and non-carbonated beverages and ergo, recyclable as well.

  1. Cartons

Materials:

Tetra Pak and Other Aseptic Cartons: Composed of paperboard, aluminum and polyethylene paper. These cartons are lightweight, shield against light and air and also they are recyclable.