New PowerFlex PET bottle packaging from Amcor gives consumers a clear
look for the relaunch of Hansen Beverages brand Natural tea line varieties.
Hansen Beverage Co., Corona, CA has launched six varieties of its Natural
tea line in 16-ounce long-neck PowerFlex* polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
bottles from Amcor PET Packaging. The PET containers are being introduced
to help bring a new, “clear” look to the brand.
Hansen’s Natural line started out in glass and then moved to polypropylene
(PP) a few years ago. At that time, ribless, paneless PET alternatives
were not commercially available.
“Back then, polypropylene was better cost-wise than PET. However,
some of the teas looked ‘muddy’ because of the opacity. Polypropylene
just didn’t have the consumer appeal of a clear bottle,” explains
Kirk Blower, senior vice president of marketing, Hansen’s.
Up until now, many beverage bottlers did not have a PET alternative that
met both their hotfill and their aesthetic requirements, thereby forcing
their premium brands (juices, teas, isotonics, etc.) to stay the course
in glass containers. However, the launch of PowerFlex permanently changes
the playing field.
Hansen’s Beverage Co.
has launched its new Natural tea line in a longneck, 16-ounce,
PowerFlex* polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle from
Amcor PET Packaging. Click
Here for High resolution image. photo: Amcor
Hansen Natural Corporation markets and distributes Hansen’s®
Natural Sodas, Signature Sodas, fruit juice Smoothies, Energy drinks,
Energade® energy sports drinks, E20 Energy Water®, Sparkling Lemonades
and Orangeades, multi-vitamin juice drinks in aseptic packaging, Junior
Juice® juice, iced teas, lemonades and juice cocktails, apple juice
and juice blends, Blue Sky® brand beverages, Monster Energy® brand
energy drinks, Lost® Energy™ brand energy drinks, Joker Mad
Energy™ and Rumba™ brand energy drinks and Fizzit™ brand
Powdered drink mixes. For further information, visit www.hansens.com.
Amcor’s PowerFlex bottle features a revolutionary patented panel-less
design which takes hot-fill (185° degrees Fahrenheit) bottle options
to a new level. Amcor’s structural design not only eliminates the
panels, but unlike recently launched competitive containers, PowerFlex
has a large, completely smooth label panel – free of any kind of
ribbing.
Amcor’s technical staff, through a combination of design and manufacturing
innovations, has created a patented bottle that absorbs vacuum via a specially
designed base. A unique diaphragm within the base draws upward as the
liquid cools. It has the geometric characteristics to enable the inverted
cone shaped diaphragm to deflect upward as the vacuum is created.
“Bottles with panels create constraints that dramatically limit
design options and therefore a brand owner’s ability to use the
container to creatively market the product,” explains William Featherstone,
vice president, sales, Beverage Division, Amcor PET Packaging.
“Because you no longer have panels in the sidewall, this makes the
bottle easier to label. You don’t have to worry about mislabeling—missing
the vertical bars in applying labels. Nor do you have to worry about the
ripple effect labeling over panels can cause,” Featherstone explains.
The geometry of the straight wall design gives PowerFlex great top load
characteristics. The straight wall has no points of stress concentration
which removes the potential of bending. Also, unlike competitive technologies,
PowerFlex bottles can be run easily on existing glass filling lines with
little or no equipment modification.
Hansen’s selected one of two stock PowerFlex bottles—a 16-ounce,
long-neck design with a 38mm finish. (The other stock option is a 16.9-ounce
dome-shouldered bottle.) This allowed the company to launch quickly without
incurring any additional tooling costs. Optional customization features,
such as embossed logos or patterns, can be added in the future, if the
company chooses.
Hansen’s Natural line features “naturally selected ingredients”
and contains EGCG, a “natural and powerful antioxidant.” As
a result, it was important to the company that the packaging compliment
the positioning of the product, so when PowerFlex became available it
was an ideal bottle for the transition.
“We also have new graphics. We’ve redesigned the label to
work with the new bottle. Our graphic mission was to portray a natural
product that would appeal to the natural or organic consumer. The graphics
had to work well with the contents,” Blower says.
Hansen’s Natural tea line is available in six varieties: Green Tea,
Lychee Black Tea, Peach Green Tea, Sugar Free Peach Green Tea, Unsweetened
Black Tea and Pomegranate Green Tea.
“Our consumer feedback has been positive and we like the way PowerFlex
portrays our product. It was the logical next step for us,” Blower
says. “Amcor was also very proactive in helping us find contract
fillers which helped us meet our relaunch objectives.”
* PowerFlex is a registered trademark of Amcor.
Amcor PET Packaging is the leading manufacturer of PET (polyethylene terephthalate)
plastic packaging for the global beverage, food and non-food industries,
with over 80 manufacturing sites in 19 countries. Its parent company,
Amcor Limited, offers a broad range of packaging solutions and ranks as
one of the top three packaging companies in the world. Amcor’s extensive
operations include 217 plants in 34 countries. It is headquartered in
Melbourne, Australia and, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006, had
sales revenues of US$8.8 billion. For further information, visit www.amcor.com.
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