Most of the time, people have a good idea about which types of beverages contain high amounts of sugar, sodium or calories. What they might not know is the extent of a product’s nutritional value — or lack thereof. For food and beverage consumers, seeing is believing.
In packaging, conformity is not necessarily a negative value. Unlike individuals who dare to be different, when it comes to labels, conformity is an advantage for the shrink and stretch materials that can contour to the innovative sizes and shapes of beverage packaging. And the results are the same as a person with pink hair or a trend-setting style: the ability to stand out from their peers.
Imagine opening a cooler full of bottled soft drinks, water and beer only to find the labels peeling off or disintegrating. Labels are expected to hold up against environmental factors like water, ice and hot or cold temperatures. When they don’t, it can reflect poorly on the product. And if this happens at retail, it could even deter a consumer from purchasing the product.
The United States market was introduced to 1,709 new beverages from January to July 2011, according to Chicago-based Mintel International’s Global New Products Database. With so many new products in the beverage sector, companies continue to search for ways to help their products stand out on store shelves. These store-shelf marketing initiatives are not only impacting the beverages, but also the labeling equipment for the products, equipment manufacturers say.
Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo’s Trop50 line of reduced-calorie juices re-launched in new clear, curvy bottles featuring pressure-sensitive labels from Mason, Ohio-based Spear USA. The new curves of the bottle are accented by a curvaceous new label from Spear USA that follows the contour of the bottle. The label features bold colors to complement the natural tones of the fruit juice, Spear USA says. The repackaged juice is available in 59-ounce bottles as well as single-serve 12-ounce bottles.