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Miller's plastic beer bottle solves first of three marketplace puzzles

Those of us who thought Anheuser-Busch would be the first American brewer to market beer in plastic bottles at retail were surprised when, in early November, A-B turned out to be no more than a very interested observer as Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI, commercially introduced three beers in unique, five-layer, oxygen-scavenging plastic bottles from Owens-Illinois' Continental PET Technologies, Inc.

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(CPT) (Florence, KY).

Until this startling development, Miller had been considered (by those of us who obviously didn't know better) one of the American brewing industry's pack runners when it came to plastics, not one of the world's packaging pioneers (story, p. 38).

That all changed when Miller started marketing Miller Lite, Miller Genuine Draft and Icehouse beers in five-layer, oxygen-scavenging plastic bottles (see photo) that promise to keep the beers as fresh as glass bottles or aluminum cans over a four-month period.

That's a remarkable achievement.

In fact, if Miller, CPT and a handful of other packaging technology developers working in secret on this development succeed, it will be the most significant beverage packaging advance since the commercial introduction of PET bottles for carbonated soft drinks 20 years ago.

Miller is test marketing its beers in 20-oz and 1-L plastic bottles in a half-dozen markets: Los Angeles, CA; Phoenix and Tucson, AZ; Norfolk, VA; Miami, FL; and Dallas/Fort Worth and San Antonio, TX. Further rollouts will depend on retailer and consumer reaction to the plastic-bottled brews. Miller notes that its new plastic bottles are substantially lighter than near-comparable-size glass bottles. Still, the new plastic bottles for beer are heavier than the same-size bottles used for carbonated soft drinks. Compared with Miller's 22-oz glass bottles weighing 340 g, the 20-oz plastic bottles weigh only 43 g. The 1-L (33.8-oz) plastic bottles weigh a mere 56 g vs. Miller's 32-oz glass bottle weighing in at 392 g. The plastic bottles carry a "1/PETE" resin identification code and reportedly cost a little more than twice their glass "near equivalents."

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