Finnish packager Stora Enso is to increase the capacity of its Polish corrugated packaging plant to meet growing demand for its products from the country's booming fruit juice market.

The company said that the €8m investment at its production plant in Poland will allow it have a wider focus to meet growing regional demand for heavy-duty box packaging as well as strengthening its output for the non-alcoholic beverage sector.

The investment, which reflects a growing focus by the company in Eastern Europe, will offer a number of new packaging and transportation solutions for food and beverage companies in the region, which are continuing to experience rapid growth.

Stora Enso spokesperson Kari Vainio said that the regional market for its packaging was growing healthily throughout all the company's ranges and as a result it would focus more on Eastern Europe's emerging economy.

"Our cardboard packaging is proving particularly popular amongst non-alcoholic beverage producers for products like fruit juices," he said

It is no coincidence therefore that the company's positive outlook for its operations in the area, matches a similar optimistic outlook from Poland's beverage sector

Consumer analyst Euromonitor said that while fizzy drinks remained as popular as ever in the country, there was growing shift amongst consumers for beverages boasting health and wellness benefits like fruit juices.

As a result of this shift, the analyst expected single-digit annual growth in off-trade soft drinks market up to 2009.

This it adds will see the value of the beverage market rise to €5.3bn by 2009 from around €4bn in 2006