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. 

Processing technologies and The Processing Zone will make first appearances at the Las Vegas show floor for the Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute’s (PMMI) 2011 Pack Expo, the show’s 55th anniversary, taking place Sept. 26-28 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Package lightweighting can be a major issue for many beverage manufacturers. In fact, it’s the No. 1 issue that many inspection equipment suppliers see beverage-makers facing. Therefore, they’re offering solutions to detect problems with these products. Although many beverage manufacturers have been lightweighting their containers to be more ecologically friendly and to reduce costs, one of the problems lightweighting can cause is leaks, says Melissa Rossi, marketing manager for Teledyne TapTone, North Falmouth, Mass.

Cause and effect situations are prevalent on product lines in beverage manufacturing plants. Just as a jam upstream can cause proliferation of product downstream, palletizing equipment has been affected by industry trends toward higher line speeds and lighter packages, which has influenced new advancements.

To continually improve its capabilities as a contract packager, Nor-Cal Beverage Co. Inc., Sacramento, Calif., has made investments exceeding $100 million in its two facilities in California. The improvements have placed the third-generation family-owned company on track to produce 45 million cases of product in 2011 for companies such as The Coca-Cola Co., Hansen’s Natural and Ferolito, Vultaggio & Sons.