Aluminum Beer Bottle – Glows in the Dark

Heineken has done it again.  They’ve launched an aluminum beer bottle that glows in the dark.

Heineken Aluminum Bottle

They call it their STR bottle and it has UV-sensitive ink applied to the aluminum bottle which becomes visible when exposed to black light.

This is another wonderful example of packaging innovation using aluminum.

Heineken Aluminum Bottles

As I wrote in my previous post, aluminum bottles are being used to improve sales of mature product lines.  There’s clearly a “cool factor” here that makes these new aluminum bottles hot sellers.

Take a look at how the bottle looks in black light vs. normal light.

The red star on the aluminum bottle to the left shows up as a luminous blue star in black light.

My only complaint – I never see these neat new aluminum bottles in the USA 😦

Aluminumbottles.com at the 2012 World Perfumery Congress

We’re exhibiting at the 2012 World Perfumery Congress to be held in Connecticut in June.

Aluminum bottles have long been recognized as superior packaging for preserving the volatile and expensive essences found in the most expensive perfumes.  We should know.  Our aluminum bottles are used to store those expensive essential oils used as primary ingredients by parfumeurs around the world.

With their inherent strength and ability to shield contents from light and oxidation, not to mention aluminum’s “greener” environmental profile, aluminum bottles are ideal for storing and transporting the essential oils and other precious essences that are used in some of the world’s leading perfume brands.

If you’re attending the show, visit us at Booth #331.

Aluminum Beer Cans in Dusseldorf

It seems Germans have had problems in cities like Düsseldorf  from broken glass from bottles dumped by partygoers,.

Aluminum Can

So Düsseldorf’s Füchschen brewery recently launched in 33-cL aluminum cans for the start of their carnival season. Check out the striking black aluminum cans.  Not exactly carnival colors, if you ask me.  I don’t think they’d win awards for aluminum can decoration.

But these are unbreakable aluminum cans and will help the Germans avoid the unavoidable mess and cleanup associated with broken glass bottles.

Personally, I think they would have done better by using aluminum bottles.

But at least, they’re doing the green thing.  And people at the carnival can keep their beers cooler longer.

Here’s a video of the Dusseldorf 2012 carnival.  Who says the Germans don’t have fun?

Aluminum Bottles – Tools for Sales Growth in Mature Markets

With the plethora of new aluminum beer bottles, you’d think the beer industry in the USA is growing.

It actually isn’t.  At least, not the industry as a whole.  In fact, 2011 marks the third straight year of declines in total beer sales in the USA. Total beer volume in the USA actually dropped 1.3% in 2011.  No doubt, the recession has been part of the problem.  But it could also be partly blamed on the maturity of the industry.

Interestingly enough, craft beer sales bucked this downward trend and actually grew by 15%, according to the Brewer’s Association.  Clearly, new products can help sales grow, or at least slow down sales declines in more mature markets.

As I noted in my previous post, aluminum bottles can help boost “shelf appeal” of even old products.  It is no surprise that major brewers have added aluminum bottles to their product lines.  Innovative new packaging and new products are key weapons for maintaining growth and indeed, survival.

Aluminum Beer Bottle – Looks Like a Beer

Finally, I’ve come across an aluminum beer bottle that is actually decorated with a beer color.

I’ve complained in previous posts about aluminum bottles that use blue and other colors that don’t remind one of beverages, let alone beer.

Well, the Cold Spring Craft Beers people have launched a resealable aluminum beer bottle that uses a light golden beer color.  I wish they had printed a head and suds on the bottle surface; that’s pretty easy to do given the excellent decorating possibilities of aluminum bottles.

One of these days, one of these beer companies will adopt my idea.  I’ll be the first to buy it 🙂

 

Aluminum Bottles Spur Sales Growth

Here’s an intriguing video that shows how relatively mature products have found a way to squeeze a little more sales growth using innovative packaging such as aluminum bottles.

Rosemarie Downey, who is the packaging research manager at Euromonitor International, talks about how the use of aluminum bottles has been instrumental in driving what she calls “value sales”.  My guess is that by value sales she means higher priced products.  As we know, many of these new products packaged in aluminum bottles are premium-priced.  Indeed, some of the aluminum bottles, with their beautiful and artistic designs,  are actually bought solely for the collectible value.  In some cases, the price of a beautifully designed aluminum bottle is several multiples of the price of the very same product in more traditional packaging.

I think more and more companies are beginning to realize the potential of aluminum bottles.

 

Aluminum Bottles US HQ – Solar Panel Roof

I’m proud to say that when it comes to environmental consciousness and sustainability, aluminumbottles.com, aka Elemental Container, practices what it preaches.

We recently installed solar panels on the roof of the Elemental Container building in Union, NJ. Take a look at the neat pictures below. Click on the pictures to get a blow-up view.  BTW – if you look at the satellite photo of the roof of our building, you won’t see the solar panels.  It’s time for the satellite to take another photo!  🙂

We actually get 100% of our power from this solar panel farm on our roof.  I mean everything – air conditioning, computers, lighting, etc. This is one green initiative that mirrors the sustainability of our own aluminum bottles.

Aluminum Bottles Solar Panel Roof

Aluminum Bottles Solar Panel Roof

Aluminum Bottles Solar Panel Roof

Aluminum Beer Bottle Froster

Aluminum Bottle Cooler

Some people have wine refrigerators.

But this aluminum beer bottle froster is my kind of product.

The Summit Cold Cavern beer froster stores your beer bottles at 24 degrees F, just below freezing, so you get the coldest beer possible.

This beer froster supposedly holds 120 aluminum beer bottles!

You can keep the beer at the desired controlled temperature – which you can’t really do with a regular refrigerator – and then enjoy it for a longer time because of the aluminum bottles.

You can even digitally program it to stay at a specific temperature.

I wonder –  if you’re stocking up on Guinness, can you program it to store the beer at the recommended,  warmish 55 degrees ?