PETpla.net Insider 09 / 2017

BOTTLE MAKING 28 PET planet Insider Vol. 18 No. 09/17 www.petpla.net is a deformation, or a difference in strength in the PET, sections become weak and they can pop out or deform. The new spiral Fanta bottle isn’t sym- metrical at all. Inspired by the twisting of an orange to release the juice and flavour, it has a series of ‘ribs’, with a torsion in the bottom half. The concept of incorporating the ‘twist’ or ‘squeeze’ came about in the very first kick-off session hosted by design agency Drink Works. This new design process began in 2012. Some markets had found that the previous ‘splash’ bottle had become something of a category standard and Fanta was no longer stand- ing out. The twisted design was an early front-runner, but it completely contradicted the brief – to be in any way practical, it had to be symmetrical. Gregory Bent- ley and Leyton Hardwick – the heads behind the new design - say they went through hun- dreds of iterations, making foam models, developing structural draw- ings and hollow models. “The reality from the start was that we all knew which one we wanted. We all had the same favourite. The problem was, there were just so many layers of people who said it couldn’t work,” admits Bentley. A pivotal moment came in 2013. Despite producing thousands and thousands of images for consumer testing, with artwork for small and large bottles in all the different coun- tries, in eye-tracking trials (where con- sumers are monitored for where they look first) the new design in 2D wasn’t sufficiently attractive – people looked to the current design shape first. But, like all great dramas that come back from a cliff hanger, this story does, of course, continue. By chance in 2015, an Italian colleague of Bent- ley’s, Marco Beggiora, packaging manager, was looking for a new bottle design and the market was willing to do a small-scale, isolated market test. Within eight months, the Spiral design was resurrected and on the filling line in Sicily. During a like-for-like sales volume comparison, the new bottle excelled. Consumers loved it. Since that very first pilot pro- gramme, the design continued to progress, both from a brand marketing perspective, led by Delia Maloney and from a packaging point-of-view, with expert Roger Moore working closely with local teams and bottlers to review the technicalities. The new bottle also has an updated label which has been moved further up towards the neck of the bottle, taking it someway to align with Coke and Sprite. It has the added advantage of no longer being placed where shelves or stacking units end up covering it. Today, the bottle is sold in Italy, Poland, Malta, Serbia, Fin- land, Romania and Great Britain, with plans to expand production globally in the coming months. www.coca-cola.co.uk After almost two years in the making, Fanta now comes with a new bottle design Twistin’ time First appearing on shelves in the 1940s, Fanta is The Coca- Cola Company’s biggest brand after Coke itself. It has evolved over the years, with a few bottle re-designs under its belt; but, until now, the bottles have always had one thing in common – they have been symmetrical. Inspired by the twisting of an orange to release the juice and flavour, it has a series of ‘ribs’, with a torsion in the bottom half. There is more pressure in a carbonated drinks bottle than there is in your car tyre. As soon as there