Soft drinks industry news : Coca-Cola Canada has launched a more compact and resealable 250 ml mini bottle for its soft drinks Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Diet Coke, and Sprite.

The new 250ml mini bottle version of Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Diet Coke, and Sprite is now available across Canada at grocery and convenient stores and also some foodservice outlets.

It has been launched in two packages across Canada in the form of a 250ml single serving bottle and an eight-pack comprising 300ml bottles.

Coca-Cola Canada claims that the new mini bottle packaging is the first of its kind to be introduced in North America. The company said that to avoid the risk that the smaller bottle size will affect carbonation during the packaging process, the mini bottle will use a coating method called FreshSafe, which will increase the shelf life by up to four months. The packaging of the mini bottle will be 100% recyclable, said Coca-Cola Canada.

The company has plans to launch 20 plus new beverages this year, which includes low and no-calorie drinks, bold flavors and soda water beverages, thus expanding the company’s portfolio.

Commenting on the new addition of the mini bottle version, Darlene Nicosia – President of Coca-Cola said: “Mini bottle is one of the most exciting innovations we’ve seen in packaging in a long time! We know that people want more drink options and the mini bottle is just one way that we’re meeting that desire.”

“And it’s not just smaller package sizes, we’re also working to bring more low- and no-calorie drinks to the market to help Canadians choose the package size and sugar content that makes sense for them.”

Coca-Cola Canada’s bottling partner Coca-Cola Canada Bottling made an investment of  CAD 20 million ($15 million) for upgrading production line capabilities at the Brampton bottling plant in Ontario to support the production of the mini bottles. The bottling company will also be able to introduce other smaller packages in the future with the help of the investment.

The investment comes after a previous announcement last spring that Coca-Cola is investing CAD 85 million ($63.85 million) to construct a new bottling plant in Peterborough in Ontario to support the production of fairlife ultrafiltered milk. The new bottling facility is expected to start operations in spring 2020.

Todd Parsons – President, and CEO of Coca-Cola Canada Bottling said: “We are so proud that one of our first announcements as an independent bottling company is that we have invested back in our Brampton facility.”

“Having a local spirit and supporting our communities is very important to us and our aim is to grow our capabilities in Canada, which will in turn, grow jobs.”

  Brampton, Canada, Coca Cola, Coca-Cola Canada, Coca-Cola Canada Bottling, Darlene Nicosia, Ontario, Soft drink industry news, Todd Parsons