Beverage

A different kind of portal

While e-marketplaces, hubs, exchanges and portals cling to dear life now that funding sources have dried up, we’ve seen the quiet emergence of another type of so-called portal: Call it the “information portal.”

March 31, 2001

Beverage: Page 257

Beverage

Sporty pouch a U.S. first

Wanting to make a splash in the sports drink category, Hydrade Beverage is introducing a 500-mL stand-up pouch with a PET/foil/PET/PE structure.

March 31, 2001

Prepared & Canned Foods

Used equipment buyers offer 'suggestions'

Packaging machine buyers sound off about buying used or rebuilt packaging machines. Many say the process needs to resemble how they buy new equipment.

March 31, 2001

Conveying & Product Handling

Kit Kat Bites the 'Junkyard Dog'

To promote the best use of company equipment, Hershey Foods annually recognizes the team that saves the most money. Two packaging lines for Kit Kat Bites won for 2000.

March 31, 2001

Prepared & Canned Foods

Technical prowess, flexible style

Two improved package materials, one for cup lidding, one for microwave wrapping, secured Technical Innovation awards in the Flexible Packaging Assn. competition. Printing and Environmental Achievement awards also went to new technologies.

March 31, 2001

Beverage

Promo pack 'tees up'

Beginning Feb. 26, 2001, St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch made Michelob and Michelob Light available nationwide in new 12-oz aluminum cans with a golf ball embossed on both front and back. The cans are made in-house by A-B on embossing equipment from Alcoa Packaging Machinery (Crawfordsville, IN).

February 28, 2001

Beverage

Smirnoff Ice refreshes

Already a success in the United Kingdom, Smirnoff Ice from Guinness Bass Import and United Distillers & Vintners, Stamford, CT, began rolling out in February in the United States and Canada. Called an “alco-pop,” the five-percent-proof citrus-flavored malt beverage comes in a 12-oz glass bottle with decorating reminiscent of bottles for Smirnoff’s vodka. The product is being offered exclusively for on-premise consumption in bars, restaurants, pubs and clubs.

February 28, 2001

Beverage

OMAC: Standardize packaging machine 'states'

Should packagers define an industry standard for the various states of a packaging machine? That and other weighty questions were debated at the most recent OMAC meeting in late February in Orlando, FL.

February 28, 2001

Beverage

Packaging mirrors free-spirited consumers

In an extensive redesign of its Salon Selectives line, Unilever’s Chicago-based Helene Curtis is appealing to free spirits. The new look has a more stylish, sophisticated, yet approachable feel, says Diggi Thomson, Salon Selectives’ brand director.

February 28, 2001

Beverage

Processing over labeling for juices

The Food and Drug Administration is requiring makers of fruit or vegetable juices to either pasteurize their products or take other germ-killing steps. In addition, they must have a system in place to prove the juice is safe, and some must conduct pre-shipment testing.

February 28, 2001

Bakery & Snack

Universal connector for syrup bags

Plano, TX-based Dr Pepper/Seven Up was instrumental in the development of a new connector spout on syrup bags. Designed for soft drink dispensing systems, the spout could make life a lot easier for bottlers and foodservice institutions across the country.

February 28, 2001

Beverage

Evian's 'Nomad' travels to the U.S.

S.A. Evian Co., Evian, France, introduced its “Nomad” bottled water last summer, first in Europe and then in the United States. The polyethylene terephthalate-bottled water (below left) is topped with an unusual hinged closure molded with a loop.

February 28, 2001

Prepared & Canned Foods

Coca-Cola, P&G announce new company

Coca-Cola, P&G announce new companyLonger shelf life, lighter-weight containers and easy-opening convenience are likely to represent key packaging features for products marketed by a new company announced in late February by The Coca-Cola Company and Procter & Gamble.

February 28, 2001