Dive Brief:
- Ball Beverage Packaging Europe has introduced a new can design with a feature called Strawster, a self-activated straw that appears when the tab of the can is engaged, reports ProFood World.
- “Strawster was not specifically developed for one customer, but more to serve a wider goal: How can a brand owner stand out at the point-of-sale with delivering a unique and value-added drinking experience?” Arjen van Zurk, marketing manager for Ball Beverage Packaging Europe told ProFood World.
- Poland-based beverage distributor MAG Dystrybucja is integrating the straw into its MPower brand. There have been some product launches in other European countries as well.
Dive Insight:
Cans that feature Strawster could help beverage makers — particularly energy drink makers — get a leg up on the competition in a hyper-competitive market. ProFood World reports that cans with a built-in straw could make energy drinks more appealing to women. It provides a “wow” factor as well as functionality for on-the-go consumers.
Strawster could have applications in other beverage categories as well. There’s nothing stopping other drinkable canned products — ready-to-drink coffee, iced tea, sparkling water, carbonated sodas, juice and even soup — from experimenting with this latest feature. After all, the drinks sector is no stranger to packaging innovation.
Juices and other kids’ drinks moved to aseptic boxes and pouches — complete with little plastic straws attached — years ago. Now, the $19.8 billion juice industry could use an innovation boost. The juice market is expected to decline 7% between 2016 and 2021, according to a report by Mintel. Product innovations, reformulations and innovative packaging such as Strawster could go a long way toward easing consumer distrust of the juice category.
Other drink categories have been rife with packaging experiments as well. Soda makers have introduced small eight-ounce cans to help consumers cut back on their sugar intake. Some sustainability-minded manufacturers — Boxed Water and Rethink Water, among them — have booted the bottle in favor of packaging water in paper-based cartons that are better for the environment. And earlier this year, Coca-Cola rolled out new bottles that included removable wristbands that potentially offered entry to some of the largest music festivals in a target area.
In addition to Strawster, other beverage packaging innovations trying to make it into the mainstream include dual-chamber bottles, self-heating and cooling containers, aseptic paperboard “cans,” and even a Coca-Cola “bag.” It may be a while before consumers find Strawster and other innovative features on the store shelf, however, given the cost-prohibitive nature of some of these out-of-the-box inventions.