“As an added bonus, the new bottle is narrower, allowing for twice the number of bottles per case as the old bottle while maintaining nearly the same footprint. “The new formula is more efficient to produce and involves fewer ingredients since the preservatives are no longer required,” says Van Boerum. Shelf life for the new hot-fill AquaBall beverages remains at 12 months. He says Niagara also introduced a new state-of-the-art labeling system from Sacmi that enables Niagara to sleeve its bottles at speeds easily exceeding 500/min, “which is mostly unheard of with traditional shrink-sleeve systems,” he explains. Niagara is easily the most vertically integrated partner we have ever worked with.” Niagara’s engineering team helped us develop the new bottle shape and then perfected the processes to produce the bottles and caps at their facility as part of the filling process. We were fortunate to find a partner in Niagara that has the expertise and equipment to produce the hot-fill version of AquaBall in a new bottle, with a new cap, and a new label. “Certainly the transition to hot fill required a significant change to our manufacturing process. The bottles are hot-filled immediately after they have been blown, eliminating any need to carry an inventory of empty bottles, while also ensuring that the bottles are sterile when filled.
“Mechanically the process has become simpler because more of the bottling process is integrated at Niagara, essentially eliminating a number of unnecessary steps. Robert Van Boerum, True Drinks COO, explains, “There are some process challenges associated with ensuring the taste profile is consistent after the formula has been heated, which do not really exist for a cold-fill product.
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