A new rectangular PET (polyethylene terephthalate) hot-fill bottle has been launched in the US. Manufacturer Graham Packaging claims that the new shape allows suppliers to add up to 100 extra bottles to a 40-by-48-inch pallet, making the product more efficient for shipping.
Toshi Kojitani, director of Graham Packaging's PET product line, claims that the new 64-ounce rectangular bottle is the same height and width and the same weight as the round alternative, but offers a 25 per cent gain in 'cube efficiency,' or an average of 20 per cent space savings on a retailer's shelf.
"The rectangular bottle provides significant advantages for all concerned - the juice bottler, the retailer, and the consumer," said Kojitani.
The new bottle has been rolled out by Old Orchard Brands to package a range of juices. Suppliers to the company will benefit from 20 per cent space savings, which means that they can store 10 of the rectangular bottles in the same space that held only eight of the old bottles.
There are benefits for retailers as well. "It has a clean and simple look and it displays the product inside very nicely, and because it takes a full-wrap label it billboards nicely on the store shelf too," said company president Mark Saur.
Mike McDonald, vice president of sales for Old Orchard said: "Consumers like it because it's well-balanced and easy to grip and it fits inside the refrigerator door. On top of that it's also more upscale-looking."
Graham Packaging produced the first non-round rectangular shape PET heat-set bottle in 1998 and then the first rectangular bottle with a grip in the fall of 2002, using a customer's design. Since then, interest in the rectangular shape has been growing, and Graham Packaging is now providing its own new designs of rectangular bottles with improved grips.
Greater space efficiency is of great importance to the food industry at the moment. A squeezed supply of refrigerated shipping containers in the US has caused shipping rates to rise 10 per cent to 25 per cent since last spring, which has helped to push up prices.
Shipping rates are also expected to continue to climb as shipping lines in the US implement federal security regulations aimed at thwarting terrorism. Other costs including insurance, fuel, terminal charges and even container prices are also on the increase.
A report on the container ship market by analyst Howe Robinson suggests that all this is creating a 'tonnage squeeze,' with ships available for charter certain to be in short supply in 2004. Some container lines will be forced to cut non-core services if they become unprofitable.
According to the US Department of Agriculture, rates from US to Asian ports rose by 12 per cent for refrigerated shipments and 11 per cent for dry shipments for the first nine months of last year.
US-based Graham Packaging employs 3,900 people at 56 plants throughout North America, Europe and South America. It produced more than nine billion units and had total worldwide net sales of $978.7 million in 2003.