The project for Goya Foods involved converting 12oz (355ml) and 24.5oz (725ml) products from glass to lightweight PET bottles from Amcor Rigid Plastics.
The PET bottles are the first to feature Amcor’s Origami hot fill technology which incorporates six flat panels to counteract vacuum that occurs in hot filled containers.
The vacuum panels are designed to collapse, compensating for shrinkage during cooling to maintain structural strength and integrity.
Both the 12oz and 24.5oz PET bottles are custom designed for both ambient fill (up to 140°F) and hot fill (up to 185°F) applications.
Amcor’s Latin America custom designed hot fill containers also feature a newly designed shrink wrap label.
The use of PET in the 24.5oz (725ml) container results in a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of 61.4% compared to glass, according to Amcor and 24.5oz (725ml) PET bottles permit 52% more product to be shipped per truckload.
“In the end, lightweight PET not only delivered a major savings in terms of freight cost but also gave us the glass-like appearance and the shelf appeal to maintain our brand image,” said Joseph Perez, senior vice president of Goya Foods.
Perez added that Goya Foods also plans to replace glass with PET in an existing 12oz juice beverage line and the conversion to hot fill PET is expected by the summer.