Coke near ready to test 12-oz bottle

So revealed Ian S. Roberts, manager of the package development department at The Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, GA, in remarks at Nova-Pack, May 8 in Dsseldorf, Germany. Earlier, the company had said it expected a U.S. market test before the end of '96. This test of the single-serve bottle will use Coke's contour shape and will be topped by a 28-mm screw cap, and is expected to last six months, Roberts says. It should provide valuable evidence into how long PEN's vaunted barrier properties can maintain carbonation in a small container. Roberts, however, wouldn't identify a test location, except to note that it wouldn't be under "FDA jurisdiction." When asked about PEN gaining a letter of nonobjection from the Food & Drug Administration, Roberts deflected the question to suppliers. Responding to a question about package differentiation at the seminar, Roberts said that by the end of the 1980s, the company "had ridden the chariot of lower-cost producer for a long time." Coke had "seemed to be abandoning a bit of our heritage. We were losing the identification of the contour bottle." Nova-Pack was sponsored by Schotland Business Research (Skillman, NJ).