Silver Creek launches true single-serve bottled water

Food & Drug Packaging, July, 1999 by Lisa McTigue Pierce

Too often, 16 to 24 ounces of bottled water are more than the health-conscious consumer would like to tote around.

Silver Creek Bottling Co. has introduced an 8.4-ounce polyethylene terephthalate (PET) containers to house its ExpreXXo[TM] caffeine enriched and Ginseng Lift[TM] bottled spring water. Consumers perceive this serving size as more potent and the lustrous brown hue of the bottle--a special color developed in-house--as indicating a premium product. Tested on university campuses, the products were launched into six markets on March 1, with plans to go nationwide.

Jeff Wuensch, vice president of sales and marketing for Silver Creek, is pleased with initial response, which he tells us, has been "overwhelmingly positive." In taste tests based on a scale of 1 to 5, the drinks rated a 4.8. He wraps up by saying that retailers "like it because they can sell it warm or cold."

Filling of the proprietary 8.4-ounce bottles is accomplished in-house on a 16-valve liquid filler from Federal Manufacturing (call (414) 384-3200 or mark Item 232) that operates at 170 bottles per minute.

For the label, Silver Creek wanted something that looked high quality and stylish. Designed and supplied by Superior Label (call (630) 393-9855 or mark Item 233), the metallized gold foil label presents a depth and richness of color to create a design that draws attention.

For the closure, the patented design of the tamper-evident closures from IPEC/International Package Engineering Co. (call (724) 658-3004 or mark Item 234) creates a seal to the bottle without using a liner or an induction seal.