Saabira Chaudhuri of The Wall Street Journal reports that Pepsi, Procter & Gamble, and Diageo are among companies contending with how to keep drinks fizzy and products fresh while ensuring the bottles can be recycled. Chaudhuri writes:
For more than a century, businesses have struggled to solve a curiously complicated challenge: How to make a paper bottle that doesn’t get soggy and keeps drinks fresh.
Now they say they are the closest they have ever been.
Diageo, Pernod Ricard and Procter & Gamble are among a raft of companies testing paper-bottle designs they are betting can help their brands stand out on shelves, woo consumers concerned about plastic and cut carbon emissions associated with glass.
But putting liquids in paper is inherently challenging. Paper bottles tested so far have needed an internal plastic barrier to stop them leaking. Companies have struggled with other problems too, including keeping flavors intact and stopping fizzy drinks from going flat.
The paper-bottle push comes as paper is growing in popularity as a substitute for plastic packaging, with companies already using it to sell chocolate, ice cream, chewing gum and chips. […]
“It is proved much more challenging than we anticipated to keep a complex liquid like whisky in paper,” said Dave Lütkenhaus, Diageo’s breakthrough innovation director. “It’s not just cracking one problem, we are trying to crack all these problems as they come along.”
Read more here.
Lauren Seaver of KSBW News reports that the nation’s first paper wine bottles were made in South Monterey County, California. Seaver writes:
Two Central Coast companies are blending to create a first for the wine industry.
“The very first low carbon footprint paper bottle launching into the U.S.,” Andrew Nelson, the president and co-founder of WarRoom Cellars, said.
Innovation is the name of the game inside this “custom crush” facility in King City where they brew and bottle wine and spirits.
“We take it all the way from grape to bottle. We work with about 10-15 clients a year and do anywhere from 10,000-17,000 tons per year,” Shannon Valladarez, Monterey Wine Company General Manager, said. […]
“I think it’s huge. I think it shows that Monterey and the Central Coast can compete on a national level and produce really world-class (wine) that’s also fun and engaging. This is something people haven’t seen before, so it’ll get them talking,” Nelson said.
The bottles sell for $16.99. They are available in Whole Foods Markets nationwide beginning May 1.
Read more here.
