Canning Carbonated water with flavors
We are being approached by one of our current clients for a copacking project of carbonated water with natural flavors in a can (basically a Lacroix copycat).
We currently bottle non-carbonated beverages (iced tea, sports drink, juice beverages, etc.) doing HTST Pasteurization and filling in PET bottles so this would be a new line and new process for us. The margins are interesting so this is something we are really interested in setting up. We will start with a small 80-100 cans per minute machine.
So we've done our research but have not found direct answer to two questions, I would really appreciate feedback from industry peers with some experience in canning carbonated beverages.
For this type of product do we need a tunnel pasteurizer? The product will only have carbonated water and natural flavor. The product water will be RO water with some minerals added back for taste and the natural flavor only. NO ACIDS, SWEETENERS, FRUIT JUICE, ETC. and we will follow CIP and sanitation procedures correctly.
A can warmer is absolutely necessary? The person doing the equipment sourcing for us is obviously pushing us to buy one, but I have seen many breweries not using one, just going direct from filler-seamer to packing table.
Thanks!