The new bottle shape is currently available in the 16-oz size at 24g; the 20-oz and 1-L sizes will shift to the new bottle sometime this year. Previously, Fruit20 used stock water bottles.
The new bottles are being supplied by Owens-Illinois and by Amcor PET Packaging.
“I worked directly with Owens-Illinois and a representative of our ad agency in creating the bottle shape,” says Sam Rowse, president of Veryfine. “We tried to make the bottle look like flowing water, and the light refracts nicely from the pillars in the lower two-thirds of the bottle. It also has a pinch grip, so it not only feels better to hold, but we think it has the appearance of crystal.”
At the same time, the Fruit20 wraparound paper label was also upgraded, going from line illustrations of the fruit to photography. “We wanted to show real fruit to make it look fresh, real, and delicious,” says Rowse. To strengthen the filled bottle, Veryfine doses nitrogen into the product.
Meanwhile, he admits the custom bottle and process-printed label do cost more, but the cost won’t be passed on to consumers. In fact, Rowse says he hopes the new bottles’ weights can be reduced enough to bring package costs back to what they were before.
