Sidel introduces the EvoFILL PET, its new filling solution for water and still beverages. It is the fastest filler ever developed by Sidel, and combines advanced fluid dynamics engineering with a next generation filling valve. It is set to support producers wishing to unlock higher efficiency in reduced space, without compromising product quality or line flexibility.

As beverage producers face growing pressure to increase output while maintaining the highest standards of hygiene and sustainability, filling technology is becoming a critical differentiator on the production line.

While plain and carbonated bottled water remain the most popular choices among consumers, the rise of functional and flavoured water is transforming the market by driving profitability and spurring brand innovation. This segment is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 3.7% from 2024 to 2028, fuelled by health consciousness, lifestyle changes and rising incomes.

Sidel’s EvoFILL PET has been developed to meet these demands head on, delivering high speed, optimised product flow and a more compact, ergonomic design for still beverages in PET bottles.

Redefining filling performance for still beverages

At the heart of the EvoFILL PET is a completely redesigned filling valve, engineered following an in depth fluid dynamics study to optimise product flow during filling. This innovation enables a significant boost in filling speed, of up to 20%, allowing the filler to reach outputs up to 90,000 bottles per hour in more compact space.

Hygiene by design, with easier cleaning and maintenance

Hygiene has been a central design focus for the EvoFILL PET. The highly hygienic filling valve design is complemented by optimised cleaning operations that reduce downtime, water usage and chemical consumption.

The filling valve features volumetric flowmeter control and a no contact filling principle, eliminating the need for components to be replaced when changing fill levels. This not only simplifies operations but also enhances overall line hygiene, helping preserve beverage quality across a wide range of still products.

Automatic CIP dummy cups, shorter internal and external cleaning cycles, reduced thermal dispersion and fewer components and surfaces to clean all contribute to faster, more efficient cleaning.

A more compact, ergonomic filler

The EvoFILL PET introduces a no base layout that delivers a footprint reduction of up to 15% compared to previous designs. This more compact configuration improves line integration and frees up valuable floor space in the filling hall.

Improved accessibility to key areas such as the external caps buffer and roof HEPA filters enhances ergonomics and simplifies maintenance tasks, supporting safer and more efficient operations for line operators and maintenance teams alike.

Flexibility to match evolving production needs

To support a wide range of production configurations, the EvoFILL PET is available in flexible layouts, including stand alone, Combi and Super Combi solutions. This adaptability allows producers to select the configuration best suited to their current requirements, while remaining future ready as portfolios and volumes evolve.

“Sidel’s new EvoFILL PET has been engineered to help customers increase output while simplifying operations and maintaining the highest standards of beverage protection, delivering performance without compromise”, explains Tommaso Tegoni, Product Manager Filling at Sidel.

“With fast and easy automatic changeovers, the extended lifespan of key components and optimised total cost of ownership, the EvoFILL PET is designed to deliver long term value alongside high performance.”

Find out more about Sidel’s filling technology and how you can access this kind of support for your business on the Sidel website.

SAN FRANCISCO, April 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Chef Robotics, the market leader in food robotics, today announced its robots have completed 100 million servings in production at customer facilities—an order of magnitude more than all other food robotics companies combined. Chef now holds the world's largest real-world food manipulation dataset and more in-production deformable material training data than any other physical AI company.

This milestone reflects deployments across more than a dozen production facilities across the US, Canada, and Europe, where Chef robots have helped food manufacturers improve yield, consistency, and labor productivity.

Physical AI and food robotics

Chef was founded with the conviction that physical AI was opening up food preparation—a multi-trillion-dollar market struggling with a chronic labor shortage—to new possibilities for automation. The company deliberately started in food manufacturing, focusing on high-volume, lower-complexity tasks like portioning and assembly rather than commercial kitchens, where volumes were lower and tasks too complex for robots to deliver value right away.

The production data flywheel

Unlike autonomous vehicles, warehouse robots, or LLMs, food robotics cannot rely on simulation, synthetic data, or internet data for training. Food ingredients are organic, deformable, and highly variable, making them difficult to replicate in a synthetic environment. Real-world production data is the only reliable path to building models that perform well in live customer environments.

This insight shaped Chef's strategy. Rather than using simulation or lab data, Chef trains its models on real-world production data from customer facilities. Each new deployment generates more diverse training data, which improves model performance and enables more ingredients, use cases, and customer sites—a flywheel that, once in motion, compounds over time.

From zero to 100 million

After deploying with its first customer, Amy's Kitchen, in 2022, Chef achieved several milestones: 1 million servings in April 2023, 10 million in January 2024, 25 million in August 2024, and 50 million in May 2025. The company has now doubled its cumulative number of servings again in less than a year.

"Food is one of the most technically demanding manipulation environments in the physical world," said Rajat Bhageria, Founder and CEO of Chef Robotics. "By solving high-variance, deformable food production first, we've positioned ourselves not just as a food robotics leader, but as the category-defining physical AI platform for real-world automation."

Sidel introduces Returnable PET – Still Water, its latest purpose-built returnable PET bottle developed specifically for the still water market. With beverage producers and retailers actively seeking innovative solutions to reduce waste and promote circularity in this high-volume category, returnable PET bottle production presents significant opportunities.

“Driven by increasing consumer expectations around reuse and the evolving regulatory environment, especially within the EU^[1], Sidel has taken an important step in bottle design, offering still water producers unique and optimised, reusable solutions”, said Jerome Neveu, Packaging and Mold Product Manager at Sidel.

Unlocking new possibilities for still water producers

This new design marks an important evolution in reusable packaging, giving beverage producers new opportunities. As an industry-first, beverage producers can access a returnable PET solution, designed around the needs of still water,rather than adapted from carbonated water requirements, removing all the structural constraints associated with carbonation.

“With our new Returnable PET – Still Water, Sidel has introduced a returnable bottle that is truly purpose-built for still water, one of the largest bottled beverage markets. Beverage producers are no longer limited to bottles originally designed for carbonated water. Instead, we offer the first returnable PET bottle developed specifically for still water, delivering significant lightweighting opportunities, durable aesthetics and customisable design options,” continued Neveu.

Lightweight and fully recyclable

As a returnable PET bottle designed for still water, Sidel’s new Returnable PET – Still Water is 10% lighter than the lightest 1-litre returnable carbonated water bottles currently used for still water. The bottle is designed to withstand up to 25 washing cycles, delivering consistent durability and performance from start to finish. 

It is also fully compatible with existing PET recycling streams, enabling bottle‑to‑bottle circularity at the end of its service life. This new design is compatible with Sidel’s entire EvoBLOW blow-moulding range.

Customisable, unique design appeal

Sidel’s new bottle offers cylindrical and distinctive square shapes, ranging from 0.5 to 2-litre capacities. Returnable PET – Still Water easily enables customisable and unique designs, reflecting a brand’s signature single-use-bottle shape, while using a returnable packaging format.

The ability to create textured surfaces preserves the bottle’s premium appearance throughout multiple reuse cycles, enhancing the bottle’s tactile and visual appeal. This glass-like PET bottle matches the market needs of retailers, hotels, restaurants and catering (HORECA), where aesthetics is essential. 

Find out more about Sidel’s returnable PET product portfolio and how you can access this kind of support for your business on the

(UPM, Helsinki, April 16, 2026 at 10:00 EEST) – UPM Specialty Materials and Felix Schoeller, a specialty paper manufacturer, have developed a customizable recyclable* barrier solution designed specifically for flexible food packaging, such as chocolate and snack bars. In response to the growing demand for recyclable packaging, this food-safe, fibre-based solution supports the packaging industry’s transition toward upcoming recyclability requirements under the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).

As brand owners face diverse packaging needs, the collaboration addresses varying end-use requirements by offering customizable levels of barrier protection. Based on UPM SolideTM Lucent packaging paper, Felix Schoeller has created a barrier concept that can be tailored to the specific performance requirements of different products.

“We always start with the customers’ needs. Instead of relying on fixed technologies or standard barrier levels, we design customizable coating solutions that deliver the protection required – whether against oxygen, moisture, grease, or for sealing and mechanical performance. UPM Solide Lucent has proven to be an excellent base material for this. It runs reliably on our coating lines, offers well-balanced mechanical performance, and delivers outstanding printability. This enables solutions that truly protect what matters,” explains Andreas Bergmeier, Head of Innovation & Technical Sales Packaging, Felix Schoeller.

“Flexible food packaging is evolving quickly, and brand-owners need solutions that deliver both high- performance barrier protection and recyclability. Our collaboration with Felix Schoeller demonstrates how UPM Solide Lucent can be adapted to different end-uses, enabling fully fibre-based packaging concepts that are ready for tomorrow’s regulatory expectations,” says Markus Kamphuis, Technical Sales Manager, UPM Specialty Materials.

UPM Solide Lucent packaging paper is designed for easy converting. The paper features an exceptionally smooth and dense surface. This allows for lower coating weights while still delivering the strength needed for reliable performance on high-speed production lines. A range of grammages is available to match specific application requirements.

UPM’s and Felix Schoeller’s solution will be on display at UPM Specialty Materials’ stand F29, Hall 8A at Interpack, Düsseldorf, Germany, May 7-13.

* Recyclability is assessed using the standard CEPI version 3 (Feb. 2025) and evaluated according to 4evergreen evaluation protocol scorecard version 2.0 (Jan. 2025).