Beverage

Smirnoff 1.75 L relaunched in proprietary PET

Hoping to boost sales, United Distillers and Vintners, Hartford, CT, has relaunched its Smirnoff premium vodka in a proprietary 1.75-L polyethylene terephthalate package whose rollout was to be completed this month.

January 31, 1998

Leaders (UNIVERSAL TAXONOMY PFW): Page 525

Beverage

Bottled water taps Kidz' market

In recent years, bottled water has made quite a splash with adults. Now Hinckley & Schmitt Bottled Water Co. of Chicago is aiming at kids with Kidz Water(TM), a fluoridated bottled drinking water.

January 31, 1998

Beverage

Supplier news: Domestic acquisitions, agreements

Greif Bros. Corp. (Delaware, OH) has signed an agreement to acquire KMI Continental Fibre Drum, Inc., Fibro Tambor, and Sonoco Plastic Drum, Inc., all wholly owned subsidiaries of Sonoco Products Co.

January 31, 1998

Beverage

'Message on the bottle'

"The perfume bottles which grace a dressing table and the beverage bottles which languish in the cupboard speak volumes about their owners," writes Mary Lewis of London-based design consultancy Lewis Moberly.

December 31, 1997

Beverage

Servo-driven case packer for pouches

Designed for drink pouches, Schneider Packaging Equipment (Brewerton, NY) has introduced a servo-motor-operated pouch case packer. It automatically packs irregularly shaped pouches (with or without straw attached) into five-panel wraparound corrugated cases at speeds over 20/min.

December 31, 1997

Inspection, Sorting & Weighing

Combo checkweigher/metal detectors save space for Keebler

Compact and highly accurate, combo checkweighers and metal detectors at Keebler's Macon, GA, bakery are meeting special needs.

December 31, 1997

Beverage

Packages 'understand' people, says Hine

The relationships people have with packages are more complex than they realize. They're both intimate and emotional, says author and noted design critic Thomas Hine in the foreword of his book The Total Package: The Secret History and Hidden Meanings of Boxes, Bottles, Cans, and Other Persuasive Containers (Back Bay Books).

December 31, 1997

Beverage

Bass unveils PET/EVOH beer bottle in U.K.

"We scoured the world for the right technology." That's how Bill Dando, director of package development at Bass Brewers in Burton-on-Trent, England, describes the process that led to Bass' recent launch of one beer and one "alcopop" in identical high-barrier plastic bottles.

December 31, 1997

Beverage

Gillette bets on pressurized plastic bottle

The initial mass-market application of an innovative pressurized dispensing system permits Gillette to offer a shave gel in a plastic container for the first time.

December 31, 1997

Conveying & Product Handling

Putting the pressure on faster filling

A unique feeding system on Sweet Ripe Drinks' new pressure filler permits 750-bpm speeds with less glass breakage, higher accuracy and 15-minute changeover.

December 31, 1997

Beverage

Fruitopia launched in 20-oz PET bottle

Rolling out this month are new 20-oz plastic bottles of Fruitopia from Atlanta-based Coca-Cola USA. The polyethylene terephthalate bottles are from multiple sources.

December 31, 1997

Meat, Poultry & Seafood

Outsourcing benefits point to continuing trend

The outsourcing of packaging functions has been yielding benefits, Packaging World readers report. Cost savings and satisfaction are the upside, while only half of respondents report increases in plant efficiency.

December 31, 1997

Beverage

A Star coding system

Dental tool maker Star Dental switches from manual label application to preprinting with a thermal-transfer system to comply with industry bar-code guidelines. Savings are the major benefit.

December 31, 1997