Coca-Cola German bottler partners with Vetropack on reusable glass pack traceability
Key takeaways
- Coca-Cola, Vetropack, and Myneral Labs have developed a digital traceability system that assigns reusable glass bottles with a unique engraved Data Matrix code.
- AI-powered cameras read the codes during every production pass, enabling CCEP DE to track individual bottles across reuse cycles.
- The system is operating at CCEP DE’s Bad Neuenahr and Lüneburg plants and won the German Packaging Award 2026 in the Digitalization category.
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners’ (CCEP) German business, CCEP Deutschland (CCEP DE), Vetropack, and Myneral Labs have developed a digital traceability system that marks each reusable glass bottle with an individual code.
The solution, created for 0.75 L bottles used by the brands ViO and Apollinaris, is described as an industry first for the beverage sector. Following an initial pilot at CCEP DE’s Bad Neuenahr production site, the technology has also been introduced at its Lüneburg plant, enabling reusable bottle inventories to be tracked digitally.
Maika Seidler, senior manager for Digital Innovation and Experimentation at CCEP DE, says: “With serialization, we are connecting the physical bottle to the digital world. For the first time, we are able to track how our containers move through use cycles on an individual bottle basis. This helps us use resources more purposefully and design processes more efficiently.”
Expanding smart solutions
Each glass bottle receives an engraved data matrix code. AI-powered camera systems on the production line read the serial number at every pass.
The companies aim to make the reusable cycle digital and transparent (Image credit: Vetropack).Vetropack engraves the data matrix codes directly onto the bottles during glass production. The company has been advancing glass traceability, aiming to enhance transparency for customers, improve precise quality control, and recall management with data matrix codes.
Myneral Labs, winner of the Coca-Cola innovation initiative “Open Challenge,” offers AI-powered camera technology and the software for data evaluation.
CCEP DE manages the project and its integration into ongoing production operations. The partnership won the German Packaging Award 2026 in the “Digitalization” category.
Erich Jaquemar, key account manager at Vetropack, says: “The combination of material expertise and digital solutions opens up new possibilities within the reuse cycle. Serialization enables us to lay the foundation for long-term, future-proof optimizations.”
The beverage giant is optimizing product creation processes and advancing smart solutions. Last year, KHS equipped Coca-Cola’s factory in Knetzgau, Germany, with its InnoPET Blomax V stretch blow molding machinery, which features near-infrared radiation and double gate technology.
Earlier this year, the Coca-Cola Company, along with other US beverage companies, announced the nationwide expansion of a shared digital ingredient transparency infrastructure developed to empower consumers with ingredient information. The QR codes displayed on beverage cans and bottles enable consumers to connect to Good to Know Facts, a database created by American Beverage.
