Packaging Digest toasts the five top-read beverage articles of 2019 that include two brand owner’s sustainability plans, a roundup of global innovations, a game-changing cup and juiced market trends.

People like to know ratings, whether that be top-watched TV shows, box office sales for blockbuster movies, sports team rankings or books at the top of the bestseller lists.

Which brings us to Packaging Digest’s annual top-read beverage packaging articles of 2019 in reverse-order countdown.

#5 Unlike its parent company, the Coca-Cola Company’s counterpart in Europe, Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP), is taking a different, more concentrated path to greater sustainability.  Earlier this summer it was announced that Honest teas, Glacéau Smartwater and Chaudfontaine bottled water brands will be sold in bottles made from 100% recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) plastic. The rollout planned to start in early 2020 will eliminate the need for 9,000 tonnes/9,920 tons of virgin plastic yearly across Western Europe.

CCEP’s ambitious plan is also remarkable for its scope: CCEP is the world’s largest independent Coca-Cola bottler, operating in 13 countries and distributing branded beverages to more than 300 million consumers. Joe Franses, CCEP VP, Sustainability, discloses details about the company’s landmark program in packaging sustainability in Beverage brands bank on rPET for packaging sustainability 

#4 Juice packaging—one of the most exciting areas in beverages today—is advancing swiftly in three ways:

1. Extended shelf life/freshness drives a constant demand for better packaging materials that can offer increased barrier for packaged juice products.

2. Convenience via packaging is growing demand for various types of flexible packaging that score well on consumer convenience has bolstered the market for bag-in-box.

3. Increased sustainability is catalyzing the use of eco-friendly resins for packaging including vast interest among packaging manufacturers, especially for biomaterials in developed markets.

Read the story: 3 market influences shaping juice packaging today

#3 August 13 was a watershed day for Dasani when the water brand unveiled the largest sustainability initiative in the brand’s history, a five-component salvo of sustainability initiatives aligned with parent company Coca-Cola Company’s global “World Without Waste” goal. The plan? To make packaging with 50% recycled material by 2030.

The news centered on five parallel initiatives involving hybrid bottles from renewable resources, a major entry into highly recyclable aluminum, package weight reduction research, recycling-enhancing labeling and packaging-reducing dispensing for foodservice outlets.

The day of the announcements Packaging Digest interviewed Sneha Shah, group director, packaging innovation, Coca-Cola North America, who disclosed details and reasoning behind these initiatives.

To find out what Shah had to say, read Dasani’s next 5 steps to greater packaging sustainability

#2 The ongoing displeasure with plastic packaging sustainability opens opportunities for alternative materials to supplant polymer-based formats in certain applications.

A certainty is that plastic beverage cups are now a vulnerable market.

In late August Ball Corp. announced it would roll out pilots with major entertainment venues and concessionaires across the U.S. to replace their plastic drinking cups with 20-oz aluminum cups starting in September 2019 at Colorado University’s football stadium and continuing through 2020.

“The aluminum cup is a game-changer for the industry,” Sebastian Siethoff, Ball general manager, told Packaging Digest.  “We hope that our customers and consumers view the aluminum cup as a sustainable and easily recyclable alternative to plastic cups, which are currently a mainstay of stadiums, restaurants and beaches and often end up in the trash or on the ground.”

Read about the vendor’s aggressive plans in Ball Corp. presents the plastic-replacing aluminum cup.

And the #1 read beverage article of 2019 is…

#1 Notable breakthroughs from Packaging Innovation Awards 2019 winners drawn from nearly 250 submissions around the world cover a range of applications including food and, notably, for beverages. The awards honor innovations in packaging design, materials, technology and processes across the entire packaging value chain was open to brand owners, retailers, packaging designers, converters and technology providers worldwide.

It turned out the top Diamond Award winner (shown) was for a beverage package, the Dai Nippon Printing Co. (Tokyo), Ltd.’s DNP Functional Film Complex PET Plastic Bottle. It’s a hybrid bottle that uses a peelable film that can be made using a barrier resin.

Read about the eight others that include a collapsible bottle, Amcor’s 46oz with Geo-Strap Base bottle done for Coffeemate natural bliss Cold Brew and Molson’s impressive cooler bag in 9 innovative food and beverage packages from around the world