This season, the habit-forming milkshake-like drink is also available in a bottled format. It's the second effort of a joint venture between Seattle-based Starbucks and Somers, NY-based Pepsi-Cola, Inc. Frappuccino Coffee Drink reached convenience stores, supermarkets and Starbucks retail outlets on the West Coast this past Memorial Day. "It's too early to say when we'll roll out nationally," says Pepsi's public relations manager Larry Jabbonsky, "but it's not an if, it's a when." Mid-America Dairymen, Springfield, MO, is contract packaging the product. Retorting gives the product a "virtually unlimited" shelf life, with no need for refrigeration, says Jabbonsky. Starbucks, however, is giving it an approximate three-month shelf life. Anchor Glass (Tampa, FL) supplies the 9.5-oz custom glass bottles. Elaborate decorating, featuring the Starbucks logo, is gravure-printed in eight colors onto a 2-mil polyvinyl-chloride shrink label. It's supplied by American Fuji Seal (Bardstown, KY). A multipack carrier, consisting of 21-pt virgin kraft board, is produced by Riverwood (Atlanta, GA). Offset-printed in six colors, it repeats the Starbucks theme. Targeted to an "upscale market," Frappuccino Coffee Drink is available in Coffee and Mocha varieties. It's sold as a single unit, or in a four-pack carrier. Suggested retail prices were unavailable at press time.
