Campbell puts V-8 in heat-set PET

Launched in January, Campbell Soup Co.'s new 46-oz heat-set bottle of polyethylene terephthalate for V-8 vegetable juice is said to be the only shelf-stable plastic container for a tomato-based beverage.

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"We felt this was an opportunity to round out our line and give consumers another option," says a Campbell spokesperson. V-8 will remain available in the 32-oz glass and 46-oz aluminum cans as it has been for years. Grape, apple and other fruit juices and fruit juice drinks have been filled in heat-set PET bottles for some time now. Tomato and tomato-based juices, however, contain heat-resistant organisms missing in those other juices. So while processing temperatures in the range of 185° F are adequate for the apple juice crowd, tomato-based juices require temperatures in the range of 200° F. Thus, Campbell's bottle has to be sturdy enough to withstand filling temperatures considerably higher than the temperatures used for other juices. While Campbell provided photography of its innovative bottle and was free with information surrounding its marketing strategies, it was more guarded with technical information. PW sources however, say the bottle weighs 77 g andis a monolayer PET injection stretch/blow-molded by Johnson Controls (Manchester , MI). It provides a 10-month shelf life.

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