Hansen’s Relaunches Natural Tea Line In 16-Ounce, Long-Neck Powerflex™ PET Bottles From Amcor

Manchester, MI — (April 23, 2007) — Hansen Beverage Co., Corona, CA has launched six varieties of its Natural tea line in 16-ounce long-neck PowerFlex™ polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles from Amcor PET Packaging. The PET containers are being introduced to help bring a new, “clear” look to the brand.

Hansen’s Natural line started out in glass and then moved to polypropylene (PP) a few years ago. At that time, ribless, paneless PET alternatives were not commercially available.

“Back then, polypropylene was better cost-wise than PET. However, some of the teas looked ‘muddy’ because of the opacity. Polypropylene just didn’t have the consumer appeal of a clear bottle,” explains Kirk Blower, senior vice president of marketing, Hansen’s.

Up until now, many beverage bottlers did not have a PET alternative that met both their hotfill and their aesthetic requirements, thereby forcing their premium brands (juices, teas, isotonics, etc.) to stay the course in glass containers. However, the launch of PowerFlex™ permanently changes the playing field.

Amcor’s PowerFlex™ bottle features a revolutionary patented panel-less design which takes hot-fill (185° degrees Fahrenheit) bottle options to a new level. Amcor’s structural design not only eliminates the panels, but unlike recently launched competitive containers, PowerFlex™ has a large, completely smooth label panel – free of any kind of ribbing.

Amcor’s technical staff, through a combination of design and manufacturing innovations, has created a patented bottle that absorbs vacuum via a specially designed base. A unique diaphragm within the base draws upward as the liquid cools. It has the geometric characteristics to enable the inverted cone shaped diaphragm to deflect upward as the vacuum is created.

“Bottles with panels create constraints that dramatically limit design options and therefore a brand owner’s ability to use the container to creatively market the product,” explains William Featherstone, vice president, sales, Beverage Division, Amcor PET Packaging.

“Because you no longer have panels in the sidewall, this makes the bottle easier to label. You don’t have to worry about mislabeling—missing the vertical bars in applying labels. Nor do you have to worry about the ripple effect labeling over panels can cause,” Featherstone explains.

The geometry of the straight wall design gives PowerFlex™ great top load characteristics. The straight wall has no points of stress concentration which removes the potential of bending. Also, unlike competitive technologies, PowerFlex™ bottles can be run easily on existing glass filling lines with little or no equipment modification.

Hansen’s selected one of two stock PowerFlex™ bottles—a 16-ounce, long-neck design with a 38mm finish. (The other stock option is a 16.9-ounce dome-shouldered bottle.) This allowed the company to launch quickly without incurring any additional tooling costs. Optional customization features, such as embossed logos or patterns, can be added in the future, if the company chooses. Hansen’s Natural line features “naturally selected ingredients” and contains EGCG, a “natural and powerful antioxidant.” As a result, it was important to the company that the packaging compliment the positioning of the product, so when PowerFlex became available it was an ideal bottle for the transition.

“We also have new graphics. We’ve redesigned the label to work with the new bottle. Our graphic mission was to portray a natural product that would appeal to the natural or organic consumer. The graphics had to work well with the contents,” Blower says.

Hansen’s Natural tea line is available in six varieties: Green Tea, Lychee Black Tea, Peach Green Tea, Sugar Free Peach Green Tea, Unsweetened Black Tea and Pomegranate Green Tea. “Our consumer feedback has been positive and we like the way PowerFlex portrays our product. It was the logical next step for us,” Blower says. “Amcor was also very proactive in helping us find contract fillers which helped us meet our relaunch objectives.”

Hansen Natural Corporation markets and distributes Hansen’s® Natural Sodas, Signature Sodas, fruit juice Smoothies, Energy drinks, Energade® energy sports drinks, E20 Energy Water®, Sparkling Lemonades and Orangeades, multi-vitamin juice drinks in aseptic packaging, Junior Juice® juice, iced teas, lemonades and juice cocktails, apple juice and juice blends, Blue Sky® brand beverages, Monster Energy® brand energy drinks, Lost® Energy™ brand energy drinks, Joker Mad Energy™ and Rumba™ brand energy drinks and Fizzit™ brand Powdered drink mixes. For further information, visit www.hansens.com.