New PET Packaging Sensation – BottleOne

Before I get into the specifics of the new PET packaging sensation, BottleOne, I want to take you back a few years. For those of you old enough to remember the influential music critic, Jon Landau, when he first saw Bruce Springsteen in Cambridge back in 1975, he wrote, “I saw rock and roll’s future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen.” This was followed by the iconic Time and Newsweek covers the following year in the same week.

A few years ago, with similar excitement, I learned about the holy grail of packaging from Bill Duelge, BottleOne’s Chief Technology Officer. I saw the future of packaging, and its name is BottleOne. We are pleased to let you know that we are in commercial production and on the shelf at Dollar General stores throughout Pittsburg.

Our first product is a half-gallon BottleOne PET bottle for the Clover Valley brand of lemonade. One reason this is such a big milestone for us is because for six years, the converters have been naysaying BottleOne, “It’s not possible, it can’t be done. There’s nothing on the shelf that says it can.”

We’ve had only positive responses to the BottleOne PET bottles. There have been no complaints. All the feedback has been positive. -Store Manager

The price differential is stunning to witness. As you can see in the picture above, BottleOne is selling at 50 cents more per half-gallon than the carton to the right. At $2 per half-gallon, our bottle has an approximately 25% greater margin than the one-gallon product just below at $2.95. (Learn more about the economics of BottleOne here)

You would assume that these well-known brands would be able to compete at higher prices. Consumers know the value of transparency, sealability and durability.

What is BottleOne?

BottleOne is a technology that enables the use of crystal clear PET for packaging. Our containers have built-in PET handles. They are leak-proof and many times stronger and more durable than the packages they replace.

With BottleOne, there are measurable gains in economical, ecological, social, technological and systems perspectives of sustainable development. The benefits of using BottleOne reach across the entire supply chain.

We’ve put a lot of attention into the aesthetics of our PET bottles, which is based on consumer trends. By responding to these trends, we can ensure retailers give consumers what they want.

One important consumer trend is transparency. Consumers want to see what they are buying. They want to see what is in the bottle. You’ll notice in the pictures that BottleOne PET packaging is transparent. In addition, PET is more durable than HDPE. You can almost see the bottle strength in the pictures.

Sustainability is the Key to a Better Future

The sustainable significance of BottleOne is equally as important to us as the aesthetics. These particular bottles were delivered in 6-pack overwraps (2 by 3). There’s no corrugated box to break down and throw away.

We like not having boxes in the aisle that people can trip over. It’s also nice that we no longer have boxes to break down, which we sometimes have to pay to dispose of. -Store Manager

By packaging your product in BottleOne PET bottles, you can eliminate the cardboard, which is something most people get excited about.

The image below shows how much you can save by converting one million corrugated boxes to tray packs.

Many of the large retailers have already moved to tray packs and systems. The only issue has been the bottle. Up until now, they haven’t had the right bottle. BottleOne solves this problem. Tray packs and systems are the future of retail, and BottleOne is the future of large format packaging greater than a half-gallon.

BottleOne in the Pandemic Era

Now that we are almost three years into the pandemic, we can all reflect on the lessons learned. One of those lessons is the importance of making bottles in-house. Many consumer products companies have experienced massive shortages of bottles, caps, pumps, and other necessities.

These are companies who want to help people during the pandemic, but they can’t get the packaging they need in order to do that. They don’t have an alternative since they don’t have the capability to make their packaging in-house.

There is sometimes a 6-month lead time to get their packaging requirements met. This wait time takes away their ability to serve their customers. The situation is out of their control, which is a terrible feeling. For many companies, this obstacle goes against what they set out to do in the first place.

Some of these companies have decided it is time to convert to self-manufacturing bottles so they will no longer be reliant on bottle suppliers. By making bottles in-house, CPGs are more likely to reach their social, brand and shareholder goals.

BottleOne’s PET Packaging is Designed for Self-Manufacturing

It is crystal clear to us that the features and benefits of BottleOne are not only more important in the pandemic era, but also more valuable to the companies who choose to use it.

BottleOne allows consumer products companies to make their own containers in whatever quantity they’d like, at whatever time they’d like, for whatever reason they’d like. They can make BottleOne bottles on demand, at a rate of 5,000-9,000 bottles per hour.

We believe everyone in the consumer products industry also wants a better, tougher, safer and more reliable package. BottleOne also provides that, in addition to impressive flexibility since one machine can make a dozen different bottle shapes and sizes.

For all these reasons, we are blessed that BottleOne is on the shelf and being implemented.

BottleOne is on the shelf! We are definitely pushing the envelope. This is the future. It’s here! -Brian Lynch, BottleOne