CCL Container Delivers an Innovative Performance and Shape with Real Energy

U.S. marketers just got a smart and attractive high-performance packaging option for energy drinks and other new-age beverages.

U.S. marketers just got a smart and attractive high-performance packaging option for energy drinks and other new-age beverages. CCL Container and Mistic Brands, Inc., part of the Snapple Beverage Group, recently teamed up for the national launch of Mistic's newest entry, Mistic RE™.

The result is a recyclable packaging innovation that utilizes aluminum and plastic, leveraging the best properties of each in a practical, attractive and groundbreaking aluminum bottle with a resealable lug cap that fits snugly onto a unique plastic sleeve. All components are FDA-compliant and have been tested and approved on standard filling lines for non-carbonated, hot-fill beverages. The high-energy drink features a shaped, easy-grip aluminum bottle that sports equally high-energy graphics.

Susan Chirico, director of packaging, Mistic Brands' parent company, Snapple Beverage Group, is enthusiastic about the container's appeal and comments, "This innovative new bottle and its bold graphics deliver great shelf impact and a premium quality impression...a prelude to the bold tasting and premium quality product that's inside." According to Judy Klym, marketing communications manager for Mistic Brands, "We're very optimistic about the prospects for this new beverage.

First of all, the taste is unique and amazing. There are two great flavors, Citrus and Berry. Next, it contains unusual and energizing ingredients like B-vitamins, ginseng, guarana, and taurine. And, to complete the trend-setting image, this is the first time this kind of product has been presented in the U.S. in an aluminum bottle." Klym adds, "Besides its distinctive look and feel, aluminum offers significant performance advantages over traditional glass containers-not the least of which is the fact that the 14-oz. bottle cools fast and stays cold because it's aluminum."

A true performer, aluminum is substantially lighter in weight than glass, is quite durable, addresses concerns of breakability and is 100% recyclable. According to Susan Chirico, "The inherent visual and physical characteristics of the aluminum bottle are right on target with equities in the energy drink category. Resealability and high-quality graphic capabilities offered us a significant point of difference from other products, both within, and outside of, the energy drink category." CCL's R&D group collaborated with a leading cap manufacturer to meet the technological challenge of combining an impact-extruded aluminum bottle with a resealable lug cap, used previously only with glass. But the effort paid off. CCL was able to design a polypropylene sleeve that accommodates the industry-standard and consumer-preferred lug caps found on many glass beverage bottles.

Director of research and development for CCL Container, Mark Goda comments, "The cap features a specially designed lining that forms a snug vacuum seal with the rim of the container during the cooling process. This results in the familiar pop with the first turn of the cap. For the consumer, it's a reassuring sign of product purity."

The sleeve also features a convenient ring to accept tamper-resistant shrink-wrapping for added product protection. CCL applied the graphics in-line as part of the manufacturing process. The container was decorated using a customized metallic base coat. After base coating it was then run through the state-of-the-art in-line seven-station printing unit. The bottle was then gloss over varnished to give the container its shine and scuff resistance.

One of the real challenges of the package was to create a unique, stylized and differentiated shape. During the necking or shaping process, CCL was required to shape the extruded cylinder first inward, then outward and then inward yet again to create an opening for the plastic sleeve. The result is a one-of-a-kind metal bottle that looks nothing like the standard straight-walled beverage can that is predominant in the North American beverage market. When it came to choosing a packaging partner, CCL was a natural choice according to Chirico.

"We knew that aluminum bottles were used for alcoholic beverages outside the U.S. market and came into contact with CCL Container while we were researching potential sources and capabilities," she explains. "Their initiative in development of an aluminum container that could run on an existing beverage line told us that CCL is a company with creative foresight, technical knowledge and pride in their product quality-the kind of company that we at Snapple Beverage Group look to align with for win-win results."

Ed Martin, CCL's vice president of sales and marketing expands on that observation. "CCL is always thinking ahead and, in fact, had been experimenting with aluminum beverage bottle manufacturing for a while, anticipating the possible trend. This is surely a case of chance favoring the prepared mind. That said, I can't appropriately express our sincere gratitude that the innovative thinkers at Snapple came along to help us commercialize the package. Had Snapple Beverage Group not shared the vision of this package we would have had the business equivalent of a pumpkin turned coach with no Cinderella." Martin sees a bright future for the aluminum beverage bottle. Obviously, we are very proud of the technical achievements of the package. To commercialize it in such a constricted timeframe is an achievement unto itself. We had to take some calculated risks to launch the package on time, but CCL has commercialized the first impact-extruded aluminum bottle soft drink package in the world. Looking forward, we believe that there is a bright and shiny future for this package type in the beverage industry."

CCL Container is a leading manufacturer of specialty aluminum ridged packaging for top brand marketers of personal care, specialty food and beverage products. CCL Container invented the impact-extruded, threaded aluminum bottle package in the early 1990s and enjoys several patents related to the package type. In addition to aluminum bottles, the company also produces plastic and metal tubes, closures, plastic jars, aluminum aerosols, barrier systems, and other specialty plastic and metal packaging.

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