Amcor has developed Brazil’s first PET bottles for pasteurised beer, saying they combine a glass-like base with a light weight and shatter resistance.
The custom 600ml bottles were designed for New Age Bebidas in Leme, São Paulo, to package its Salzburg craft beer brand. They use a crown metal cap and replace glass for filling and capping, being able to withstand the high heat and pressure of the pasteurisation process, according to Rodolfo Salles, research and development manager for Amcor in Brazil.
“PET bottles offer design advantages over glass while being lighter weight, more easily and safely portable, and unbreakable, and provide the required barrier protection,” he said.
The bottle is 100 per cent recyclable and compatible with existing streams. It uses Amcor’s oxygen scavenger barrier additive to prevent oxygen from getting in or out, providing a shelf life of up to four months.
According to Fabio Violin, president of New Age Bebidas, the lightweight containers also reduce transportation costs, as well as energy usage and carbon emissions along the supply chain.
“Innovation and differentiation are the name of the game in the craft beer market in Brazil. The flexibility of PET packaging allows us to develop a unique replacement for glass that will deliver broad consumer appeal throughout Latin America,” he said.
The format has undergone a pre-market trial in select cities across São Paulo state.
