Coca-Cola and Heinz in landmark packaging partnership
The Coca-Cola Company and Heinz have announced a strategic US partnership that will enable Heinz to produce its ketchup bottles using Coca-Cola’s innovative PlantBottle packaging.
The PET plastic bottles are made partially from plants and have a lower reliance on non-renewable resources compared with traditional PET plastic bottles. The partnership is an industry first, and one that both companies say they hope others will follow.
PlantBottle packaging looks, feels and functions just like traditional PET plastic, and remains fully recyclable, but up to 30% of the material is made from plants. The plant material is produced through a process that turns natural sugars found in plants into a key component for PET plastic. Currently, PlantBottle is made using sugarcane ethanol from Brazil, the only source widely recognized by thought leaders globally for its unique environmental and social performance.
“PlantBottle is revolutionising plastic, and our partnership with Heinz is paving the way for industry-wide collaboration,” says Muhtar Kent, chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company. “This partnership is a great example of how businesses are working together to advance smart technologies that make a difference to our consumers and the planet we all share.”
Heinz’s adoption of the PlantBottle technology will be the biggest change to its iconic ketchup bottles since the introduction of plastic in 1983.
“The partnership of Coca-Cola and Heinz is a model of collaboration in the food and beverage industry that will make a sustainable difference for the planet,” says Heinz chairman, president and CEO William Johnson. “Heinz Ketchup is going to convert to PlantBottle globally, beginning with our best-selling 20oz variety, which will reach consumers this summer.”
