MD Drinks chooses Amcor PowerFlex

MD Drinks chooses Amcor PowerFlex' panel-less, ribless hot-fill PET bottle to launch functional beverage line

22/05/06 Santa Monica, CA — MD Drinks converts its Function™ line of physician-developed, all natural, nutrient-enhanced beverages to 16.9-ounce, PowerFlex™ polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles from Amcor PET Packaging.

This innovative line of science-based, all natural Function™ beverages had its genesis when Alex Hughes, M.D. found himself unsatisfied with existing brands claiming to serve a "functional" purpose.

"Nothing in the market had true functionality, and no beverages were taking advantage of deregulation from the 1990’s which made a lot of new intriguing ingredients available," recalls Dr. Hughes, a surgeon at UCLA Hospital.

Recognizing an unmet demand in the marketplace, Dr. Hughes teamed up with a friend who had recently graduated from Harvard Business School, and MD Drinks, Inc. was founded.

The two well-educated friends had ambitious goals, but they initially decided to pursue a niche that anyone could relate to - hangovers. "Hangovers are a specific need and lend themselves nicely to word-of-mouth marketing," says Dr. Hughes. Soon began the development of the company’s first "functional drink" named Urban Detox™.

Function Urban Detox™ contains a proprietary ingredient blend that comprehensively addresses hangover physiology, helps protect the liver from the harmful effects of alcohol, minimizes the effect of pollution on lungs and sinuses, and boosts the immune system.

"Our idea was much larger than just developing one product. We wanted to take new ingredients and cutting edge science to create a line of functional beverages that offer real benefits to consumers that they could feel," explains Dr. Hughes.

The second and third drinks in the line were Brainiac™ and Youth Trip™. Function Brainiac™ is a stimulant-free drink that improves mental acuity and enhances memory, while Function Youth Trip™ uses targeted antioxidant synergy to support strong connective tissue, bones, and youthful skin.

"Our drinks make you smarter, younger, and cleaner - those are real benefits that customers desire," Dr. Hughes continues.

One of the cornerstones of the development process was finding the right technical partner.

"We selected Wild Flavors in Cincinnati. They are one of the largest and most advanced flavor houses in the country, and experts in developing leading nutrient-enhanced beverages. This relationship enables us to break new formulation ground and use ingredients that have never been used before in beverages," Dr. Hughes says.

MD Drinks was breaking new ground, so selecting the right bottle was critical. "Because our drinks are cutting edge, we also wanted the bottle to symbolize that," Dr. Hughes says. "First, we looked at silk screened glass bottles, but we decided that glass wasn’t really consistent with our ‘health drink’ message. Then we began to explore PET."

The first iteration of the bottle was a standard hot-fill PET with panels. However, MD Drinks really wanted to "find a bottle that we could call our own."

Amcor’s PowerFlex™ bottle was brought to their attention by H.A. Rider, Watsonville, CA, one of the co-packers the company had been evaluating. "H.A. Rider steered us to the PowerFlex™ bottle because they had been filling a long-neck version of it for Trinity Springs and were happy with its performance on the production line," Dr. Hughes says.

MD Drinks selected Amcor’s other stock 16.9-ounce PowerFlex bottle—a domed-shoulder design with a 38mm finish. This allowed the company to launch quickly without incurring any additional tooling costs. Optional customization features, such as embossed logos or patterns, can be added in the future, if MD Drinks chooses.

Amcor’s PowerFlex™ bottle features a revolutionary patented panel-less design which takes hot-fill (185° degrees Fahrenheit) bottle options to a new level. Amcor’s structural design not only eliminates the panels, but unlike recently launched competitive containers, PowerFlex™ has a large, completely smooth label panel – free of any kind of ribbing. PowerFlex™ features a vacuum absorbing base. Previously, sidewall panels were necessary to absorb the distortion that occurs as a hot-filled beverage cools to room temperature. (After the bottle is capped, the filled liquid cools, which, in turn, pulls an internal vacuum that must be dissipated structurally.)

"Bottles with panels create constraints that dramatically limit design options and therefore a brand owner’s ability to use the container to creatively market the product," explains David Andison, vice president, business strategies, Amcor PET Packaging.

Up until now, many beverage bottlers did not have a PET alternative that met both their hot-fill and their aesthetic requirements, thereby forcing their premium brands (juices, teas, isotonics, etc.) to stay the course in glass containers. However, the launch of PowerFlex™ permanently changes the playing field.

Amcor’s technical staff, through a combination of design and manufacturing innovations, has created a patent pending bottle that absorbs vacuum via a specially designed base. A unique diaphragm within the base draws upward as the liquid cools. It has the geometric characteristics to enable the inverted cone shaped diaphragm to deflect upward as the vacuum is created.

"Because you no longer have panels in the sidewall, this makes the bottle easier to label. You don’t have to worry about mislabeling—missing the vertical bars in applying labels.

Nor do you have to worry about the ripple effect labeling over panels can cause," Andison explains. Additionally, the geometry of the straight wall design gives PowerFlex™ great top load characteristics. The straight wall has no points of stress concentration which removes the potential of bending.

To help MD Drinks forge through the hurdles of its initial production runs, Amcor representatives continued to partner with the company. "Amcor was really helpful. They were available during all stages of the development," Dr. Hughes says.

Function™ Drinks are currently distributed on the west coast and in the southwest, but distribution is quickly expanding nationwide. Additional varieties are also being developed.

"As a physician, I continue to see the unmet demand for beverages that contain ingredients that work. As a company, we are going to satisfy this demand," says Dr. Hughes.

The mission of MD Drinks, Inc. is to develop truly functional beverages that combine great taste and convenience with scientific research. Founded by Alex Hughes, M.D. and a team of physicians and other experts, MD Drinks actively promotes health and wellness through nutritional food and beverage products. The privately-held company is headquartered in Santa Monica, CA. For more information: www.functiondrinks.com.

Amcor PET Packaging is the leading manufacturer of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic packaging for the global food and beverage industries, with 70 manufacturing sites in 20 countries. Its parent company, Amcor Limited, offers a broad range of packaging solutions and ranks as one of the top three packaging companies in the world. Amcor’s extensive operations to include over 220 plants in 36countries. It is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2005, had sales revenues of US$8.5 billion. For further information, visit www.amcor.com and www.amcor-powerflex.com