Packaging innovation by Niagara

Another highlight of Zenith’s Global Bottled Water Congress in Budapest earlier in October was a presentation by Andy Peykoff Sr, Founder and Chairman of Niagara Bottling in the United States.

Niagara has achieved extraordinary momentum through intensive cost management and packaging innovation. Andy Peykoff gave some fascinating examples.

• In 1998 its typical 0.5 litre PET bottle weight was 25g. Today it is 8-11g. A saving of up to 68%.

• Bottle caps now weigh just 0.8-1.0g.

• Today packaging accounts for only 2% of the weight of a bottled water product, compared with 40% for glass and even 13% for an egg.

• Another pioneering move was introducing nested cases, where bottles are packed diagonally rather than in rectangular lines. These are 50% stronger and allow 17% more cases per pallet. This is because the bottles have 6 contact points between each other instead of 4.