Reily Foods Co., New Orleans, La, is launching its new ready-to-drink (RTD) iced tea line in a 16-ounce, pedestal-based, custom PowerFlex polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle from Amcor PET Packaging. The new design geometry represents a “first” for PowerFlex and is patterned after the tall graceful columns found in Southern architecture. The graphics support the positioning by incorporating images of verandas, white rocking chairs and Spanish moss.

Reily’s Luzianne brand has long been synonymous in the South with quality food and beverage products formulated or blended with southern taste preferences in mind. Its heritage tea products first entered the market in 1932 and have been recently available in both retail (bags) and institutional channels (filter bags, loose tea and concentrate).

Further, Southern iced tea is known for its sweetness—another reason why regional marketing comes into play.
Having made the decision to go forward with RTD formulations, the next question was what container type should be used to bring the line extension to market. Initially, Reily asked its creative agency Interbrand, New York City, to develop some sketches. At that time, the company was thinking of launching in a glass bottle.
Reily handed over the glass sketches to Amcor and challenged them to duplicate as many of the design elements as possible in PET.
With Reily Foods determined to have a custom bottle that spoke to the uniqueness of its brand and its Southern heritage, Amcor went to work.

Amcor’s PowerFlex bottle technology relies on 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 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.

Unlike conventional hot-fill PET alternatives, PowerFlex bottles do not have sidewall vacuum panels, making them easier to label. Packers don’t have to worry about mislabeling—missing the vertical bars in applying labels. Nor do they have to deal with the ripple effect labeling over panels can cause.
The location of the rib not only prevents ovalization during cooling, but it also keeps the entire label panel smooth—a desired characteristic so that the label can be used as an attractive brand billboard. The bottle also is blown with a UV additive to help extend shelf-life.

Further, the four-color process label graphics, also designed by Interbrand, stop at the bottom rib. However, the polyvinyl chloride shrink sleeve label itself, supplied by Constantia Colmar, Inc., Colmar, Pa., continues transparently to the bottom of the base. The reason for this is two-fold—it facilitates the application of the shrink label and it gives the consumer the opportunity to look into the bottom of the bottle to see that the tea is sediment free.

Luzianne RTD is currently being launched in five flavors— Sweet Tea, Diet Peach, Lemon, Green Tea with Mint and Raspberry. Initially, it is being distributed to retail outlets in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and North and South Carolina, with a wider distribution in additional southern states in early 2009. The line will be sold in individual bottles and in four-packs. It is contract packaged at Southern Classic Foods, Brundidge, Ala.

Amcor PET Packaging
Melbourne, Australia

Reily Foods Co.
New Orleans, La.