PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2018

BOTTLE MAKING PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 03/18 www.petpla.net 14 Ovoid shaped bottles that preserve the properties of liquids The vitaliser bottle by Gabriele Kosmehl Inspired by nature, the biomimetic Vitbot bottles and jars have been designed with an oval shape and Phi proportion in order to allow water to move in a vortex inside. These characteristics are claimed to preserve the beverages inside in an aesthetic and the most natural way. PETplanet: Mr Lozano Domènech: Your bottles are really striking to the eye because of their unusual ovoid shape. How did you come up with the idea? Lozano Domènech: Observing nature, we discovered that the egg is the perfect container. Inspired by almost a million species who use eggs to contain life, we designed our bot- tles. But not only that. In Vitbot, the proportion flows through the Golden Ratio – a proportionality that is often found in nature. Out of this combina- tion has come the vitaliser design that allows for and facilitates the water’s vortex movement within the bottle. PETplanet: Is vortex drinking water something we should be aiming for? Lozano Domènech: Very much so! The movement of liquid in a natural vortex is an expression of the water’s vitality. The overall effect of the drink’s individual compounds is that minerals and electrolytes can be assimilated more efficiently by the human body – and not only by water. We also have customers from the organic beverages’ sector who are looking for bottles that can preserve the essential ingredients that make up their juices or fermented beverages in the best and most durable way pos- sible. Thus far, all drinks regardless of their ingredients have always come in the same kind of bottle, namely a cylindrical container. This is of little or no use when one is involved with a vibrant product whose vitality needs to be preserved. Once the bottling process has been completed, the manufacturer is no longer in a position to influ- ence their product – the bottle is the interface with the end user. This is why choosing the perfect con- tainer is so important not just from an aesthetic but also a qualitative perspective. PETplanet: The fact that a bottle not only never distracts from but in an ideal situation even improves a prod- uct is something we have hitherto only associated with alcoholic drinks that finish their maturation process inside the bottle. Lozano Domènech: Wine and beer are excellent examples of the rigorous process that drinks have to go through. Fermentation within the bottle improves the product’s taste and our bottle enhances this process. PETplanet: Are any tests being carried out on alcoholic drinks? Lozano Domènech: Yes. We have trialled our bottles of water and wine with a number of sommeliers. The drinks came in classic cylindri- cal bottles packed in cartons as well as in our Vitbot bottles. The next day we had a blind tasting session. The difference became quite clear with the sommeliers expressing amazement at the effect the containers had on the drinks. Everyone thought the drinks from our bottles tasted the best, and that only after a few hours! PETplanet: From a taste and vitality point of view, is your unusual ovoid-shaped bottle as “differentiation at point of sale” really a persuasive marketing argument? And what about issues around processability and logistics? Lozano Domènech: You are right; there are lots and lots of products on the market. Every exceptional product that is put on the market requires an equally good container. It is also better for consumers if they are able to find their product on the shelves quickly instead of having to look around endlessly for it. However, up until now, every- thing has had a cylindrical shape. For example, if you want to pack our bottles in a case, you cannot use a standard one. You must first produce one that is shorter and stronger than other solutions that are available on the market. Antonio Lozano Domènech and Dolores Martorell Reyes (in the middle) ran a water treatment company in Barcelona, Spain. Their observations of nature were the impe- tus behind their move to California in 2012 in order to design Vitbot bottles there.