Leading Brands of Vancouver has launched TREK® natural sports drinks and NITRO™ energy drinks in North America in an unusual, 20-oz Heat-Tek™ Brick polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle from Ball Corp (www.ball.com). The bottle's unique, proprietary design eliminates the need for side vacuum panels, providing a smooth label panel that gives consumers a more comfortable grip and facilitates labeling. Sweetened with pure cane sugar and low-fructose corn syrup, the TREK line is designed to naturally hydrate athletes quickly. NITRO packs the punch of an energy drink and also hydrates the body.
 
The 20-oz, patent-pending bottle features the trademark TREK loop cap that allows the bottle to be easily clipped to a backpack, a belt, a bike and other paraphernalia. TREK is initially available in four flavors: Orange; Fruit Punch; Lemon-Lime; and Wildberry. NITRO comes in Grape, Blue Raspberry and Red Berry. Leading Brands chairman and CEO Ralph McRae says the drinks were designed to fill what's perceived as a void in the fast-growing, gulpable beverage category. Energy drinks have been increasing in size recently, with larger bottle sizes becoming more popular.

The Heat-Tek technology helps the container to eliminate what Ball Corp. calls the “crinkle effect,” created by applying labels over side vacuum panels, says Mike Vaughn, vp of innovation at Ball. “More importantly, it doesn't require the significant equipment modification required to fill other panel-less bottles in the market, so it is a very cost-effective solution,” he says. Adds Joanne Saunders, marketing vp for Leading Brands, “The easy-grip bottle provides a cost-effective way for us to improve consumers' drinking experience with a smoother, easy-to-grip label panel.”