Sunny D Overhauls Production Process After Recipe Changes

The new drink and packaging was designed for the UK market. The bottle design has been protected across Europe and Sunny D is registering it for potential worldwide release.

11/03/09 Sunny D has had to employ new filling kit, as well as new bottles, blow moulding and new suppliers, to cope with the reformulated drink.

When the preservatives and artificial ingredients were removed, Sunny D could no longer be packaged in the original HDPE bottles but had to move to PET, explained international technical manager Lee Taylor.

The switch to PET required a new company to blow the bottles and new filling machines.

Co-packer Gerber Juice Company in Somerset is using two bespoke Oystar Hamba filling machines, which are the first of their kind in the world.

The PET bottles are blow moulded by Esterform Packaging.

Sunny D wanted the new bottles to look similar to the old HDPE design. "We wanted to keep the iconic look of the bottles. We looked at putting Sunny D in pouches, but in the UK PET is the gold standard for juice," said Taylor.

The new drink and packaging was designed for the UK market. The bottle design has been protected across Europe and Sunny D is registering it for potential worldwide release.

The drink, which now contains 70% fruit juice, is filled on an ultra-clean machine, rather than aseptic, giving a shelf life of around 75 days.

Taylor said this was in response to the company's research with parents: "You can achieve the best quality and taste through the chilled chain rather than ambient."

The new product and packaging have taken three years to develop. "Apart from one or two ingredients it is a totally new product," added Taylor.

Design consultancy Elmwood created the new label designs, which aim to capture an 'outdoorsy', healthy feel.

Sunny D was launched in 1998 and became the UK's third-biggest selling soft drink. However, it suffered from negative publicity surrounding artificial ingredients that were used at the time.

Its original owners, Procter & Gamble, sold the brand, which is now privately owned.