While the 10- and 30-oz bottles look like conventional homopolymer high-density polyethylene, they are, in fact, two-layer containers: HDPE outside and nylon inside. The bottles, and the injection-molded polypropylene tamper-evident closures used to seal them, are produced by Owens-Brockway (Toledo, OH). Both bottles carry a "7/other" resin identification code. The larger size is additionally marked "HDPE compatible." The multi-layer structure gives the FruitWise Smoothies-and a companion line of nutrient-fortified FruitWise shakes-a 63-day refrigerated shelf life. Nylon is used as the juice contact layer both to prevent flavor scalping of essential oils and to block "plastic" flavor pick-up. Both lines contain 90% to 100% juice. Tropicana is the latest in a line of marketers to capitalize on natural HDPE's fresh, "local dairy" image for a line of fruit-based drinks. Coca-Cola's Minute Maid Co. (Houston, TX) has been marketing a line of multipacked refrigerated juices in monolayer HDPE bottles for about a year. Earlier this year Minute Maid repacked its shelf-stable Hi-C drinks, and Procter & Gamble Co. (Cincinnati, OH) picked new bottles for its Hawaiian Punch. Both companies opted to replace polypropylene/ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) gallons and PET half-gallons for bottles with a natural HDPE look plus the barrier of EVOH. Tropicana's bottles are labeled with seven-color lithographed low-density PE stretch labels produced by ITW Auto Sleeve (Twinsburg, OH) and applied by O-B. Label choice, Tropicana tells us, was made to speed the product to market. Tropicana is handling initial market needs on existing filling and capping equipment at its Fort Pierce, FL, plant. As the roll-out expands nationally, Tropicana will determine if additional filling sites are needed.
HDPE-based Tropicana bottles project fresh, 'local dairy' image
In the first stage of a national roll-out, coextrusion blow-molded bottles for Tropicana FruitWise smoothies are finding a place in the refrigerated cases of supermarkets in Cleveland and several other markets.
Nov 30, 1997
Companies in this article
Machinery Basics
How Can You Honor a Leader?
Induction into the Packaging & Processing Hall of Fame is the highest honor in our industry. Submit your leader to be considered for the Class of 2024 now through June 10th. New members will be inducted at PACK EXPO International in Chicago
Read More