High quality PET bottles for spirits, liqueurs and cocktail mixes

[DesNaz]

Hi all:

With the risk of sounding sacrilegious in a forum of micro-distillers (who I presume pay a lot of attention to packaging), can I ask those of you who have strong opinions on the pros and cons of using high quality, customised designed PET bottles for packaging spirits, liqueurs and cocktail mixes, to share them with us?

While on the subject of PET, does anyone know of simple techniques that could be used to achieve a 'frosted effect' on a PET bottle?

Thanks in advance!

[Joe Pawelski]

Hi all:

With the risk of sounding sacrilegious in a forum of micro-distillers (who I presume pay a lot of attention to packaging), can I ask those of you who have strong opinions on the pros and cons of using high quality, customised designed PET bottles for packaging spirits, liqueurs and cocktail mixes, to share them with us?

While on the subject of PET, does anyone know of simple techniques that could be used to achieve a 'frosted effect' on a PET bottle?

Thanks in advance!

First off, are you with a PET bottle maker (AMCOR)? If so I would be curious what ballpark pricing would be for a suitable liquor PET bottle.

I work with high speed conveyance, a lot of which is for PET. We've done a number of projects with PET wine and Beer bottles - both of which required special coatings to keep oxygen out and preserve the beverage inside. Those coatings drive the price up on PET bottles- which contrary what people often think, are relatively expensive alone. Raw PET resin costs way more than glass even if its not coated. This is why you pretty much only see plastic beer bottles at sports venues where the safety advantages of PET outweigh the cost.

The real advantage for PET comes down package durability and shipping.

*Packaging durability is an obvious one- PET bottles won't break like glass, they also aren't likely to cut anyone. PET bottles can be shipped side by side without dividers which saves some money on packing materials.

*Shipping is reduced since PET bottles weigh a fraction of what glass weighs-

Economy of scale also plays a major role: Unless you plan to use a generic 1.75 or copy the Pinnacle bottle you are going to have to buy enough bottles to cover the cost of the molds and any line retrofits your bottle maker must make to run your bottle. This cost starts in the 10's of thousands and easily gets into the $100,000 plus range depending on the line size and speed. If you are Pepsi or Coke making 10's of millions of bottles a year that cost is negligible, its not for a micro distiller even if he's making a few dozen pallets a year.

Cost aside perception will be another issue in itself. I've seen some really amazing PET deigns over the past few years, so I don't doubt it will eventually go that way, but there will be much complaining along the way I would bet.

[DesNaz]

First off, are you with a PET bottle maker (AMCOR)? If so I would be curious what ballpark pricing would be for a suitable liquor PET bottle.

Hi Joe, I'm not with any manufacturer... just checking out perceptions and reactions... thanks for yours!