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Perrier sleeves 1-gal PET bottles

Perrier debuts several of its brands in PET jugs decorated with stretch sleeve labels printed in eight colors. New molding, sleeving equipment highlights revamped lines at two facilities.

Stronger and better looking: Consumer-preferred PET gives Perrier's water jugs improved shelf presence versus HDPE. The PET jug'
Stronger and better looking: Consumer-preferred PET gives Perrier's water jugs improved shelf presence versus HDPE. The PET jug'

While gallon jugs of bottled water are traditionally made of high-density polyethylene, Perrier Group of America, Greenwich, CT, distinguishes its water by using clear jugs of polyethylene terephthalate adorned with stretch sleeve labels. Introduced in midsummer, the jugs are filled with three of Perrier’s regional domestic brands of Deer Park, Zephyrhills, and Poland Spring. The new jugs are in addition to HDPE 1-gal jugs.

“The new package has a great shelf presence,” asserts John Gruver, Perrier’s national manager of package development. “It’s a clear container that pops out on the shelf. And we feel it does a better job of preserving the water.” The company codes the filled PET jugs for the same two-year shelf life as its HDPE jugs.

Perrier blowmolds and fills the 75-g bottles at plants in Zephyrhills, FL, and Hollis, ME. In Hollis, a new Husky (Bolton, Ontario, Canada) machine injection molds the preforms that are then blow molded on new equipment from Sidel (Norcross, GA) installed at both plant locations. The bottles feature a teardrop and circular wave pattern in the front and back shoulders. Filling is done on the same equipment used for HDPE jugs, and at the same 130-140 jugs/min speed.

Sleeve labeling is done by a six-station rotary system from Protection Decoration Conditionnement (PDC)-Europe (Austin, TX). The HC-6G machine die cuts a sleeve from a rollstock tube of polyethylene film, and mechanically applies it over the jug using four grippers. A sensor reads the clear band between print impressions to prompt the die cutter and application. The bottles are oriented so that the sleeve seam is unobtrusively located in a corner of the jug.

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