From Test Tube To 2 Liter

Packaging the Punch

Coca-Cola has distribution and manufacturing down to a science, and we aren’t talking about the soda. We all love a Coke in the glass bottle, but that desire comes at a premium. It’s no wonder Coca-Cola started manufacturing the product packaging in plastic – it’s much cheaper.

Consider the 2 liter bottle before it’s filled – a plastic bottle containing nothing but air and takes up loads of space on a warehouse rack. What Coca-Cola has done is create a pre-filled packaging state, which looks like a thick test tube. The tubes take up fractions of the space on a truck and the process to expand them to be filled is simple. The tubes are placed in a vacuum and heated so they soften. Hot air is blown into the tube, stretching to almost 40 times its original size. The plastic cools and shaped to a mold.

Shipping air is never good, and Coca-Cola understands what its customers are willing to pay for and what they aren’t. By examining their supply chain, they have been able to drive out unnecessary costs – allowing us to enjoy The Real Thing without breaking the bank.