A blast from the past and premium packaging rounded out some of the biggest beverage packaging news this month. The Coca-Cola Co., Apple Rush Co. Inc. and Beam Global Spirits & Wine all announced the repackaging of some of their brands.

Remixed package
The Coca-Cola Co.’s Mello Yello brand repackaged its soft drink in a remixed version of its original package design from the 1970s. The package redesign, created by New York-based design agency Stag & Hare, was released last month. Featuring the original tilt of the green and orange logo, the remixed package now has a pair of double L’s that disappear off the edge of the package. Bubbles and fruit images float in the yellow background behind the Mello Yello logo.

Rocket design
Fuzzee Bee Beverage Co.’s ZÅ«n energy drink has been packaged in a rocket-shaped bottle with a flexographic shrink label printed with five colors by Printpack, Atlanta. The company printed labels on Pure Affinia PETG, enabling it to shrink to the curves of the rocket-shaped bottle, it says. The label is black with a white stick figure logo and white and red letters.

Organic logo
Apple Rush Co. Inc., Glenview, Ill., repackaged its organic sparkling beverages with a new logo that places the word “organic” prominently above its apple insignia. The background of the logo includes wood planks, which the company used on four-packs and 12-packs to simulate the old-style look of soft drinks coming in wooden crates.

Smaller bottles
Lucas Bols, New York, released its 50-ml. Bols Genever minis in the United States. The smaller bottles are an exact replica of the company’s 750-ml. bottle and carry a suggested retail price of $4.99 at high-end liquor stores in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, the company says. The company says the smaller bottles are ideal for hotel mini bars and make it easier for new customers to try the product.

Premium package
Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Deerfield, Ill., repackaged its Jim Beam Black Double Aged Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey to reflect a more premium position. The new bottle is taller and has a more square shape with a straight bottle neck. A new, centered front label with a simple black and silver design replaces a wrap around label to show more of the liquid inside. James Beam’s script signature adorns the bottom of the bottle’s label.

Plastic award
The Eco-Shape 500 ml. PET bottle by Nestlé Waters Canada, Ontario, British Columbia, won the 2010 Plastics Stewardship Award by the Canadian Plastics Industry Association for its contribution to the enhancement of Canada’s plastic industry stewardship and sustainability. Produced at the company’s Puslinch and Hope bottling facilities in Ontario, the bottle weights 9.16 grams on average and contains 27 percent less plastic than its predecessor, the company says. The bottles are recyclable.