New 64-ounce rectangular bottle

YORK, Pennsylvania, USA-- April 26, 2004 -- A new rectangular PET (polyethylene terephthalate) hot-fill bottle, has been launched, which could prove to be a blessing for suppliers, as shipping rates have risen 10 per cent to 25 per cent since last spring.

Producers love it. Consumers do too. But retailers may love it most of all.

US. Manufacturer Graham Packaging claims that the new shape allows suppliers to add up to 100 extra bottles to a 40-by-48-inch pallet, making the product more efficient for shipping.

The new 64-ounce rectangular PET (polyethylene terephthalate) hot-fill bottle that Graham Packaging Company, L.P., is producing for Old Orchard is coming up a winner at every stop in the journey from producer's plant to supermarket shelf to mom's refrigerator.

The new shape does something good for everyone. The juice packer loves the way it shows off its products and the way the shape allows it to add up to 100 extra bottles to a 40-by-48-inch pallet for more efficient shipping. Mom and the kids love the way it slips comfortably into their hands and the way it tucks neatly into the shelf inside the refrigerator door. But retailers are just head-over-heels about the space it saves on their store shelves.

Toshi Kojitani, director of Graham Packaging's PET product line, claims that the new 64-ounce rectangular bottle is the same height and width and the same weight as the round alternative, but offers a 25 per cent gain in 'cube efficiency,' or an average of 20 per cent space savings on a retailer's shelf.

"It's easy to grab and easy to hold," says Mark Saur, president of Old Orchard Brands in Sparta, Michigan, which rolled out the new bottle in January for its juices, juice blends, and juice cocktails. "It has a clean and simple look and it displays the product inside very nicely, and because it takes a full-wrap label it billboards nicely on the store shelf too."

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