Design differentiation highlights unique flavored tea

High quality print technique on beverage cans provides excellent images and graphics THE largest independent soft-drink bottler in the United States has adopted advanced high quality print technology for the launch of its unique family of flavored teas and drinks in cans. The Black Jack Beverage brand of teas represents the first commercial application of Crown Holding's high quality print technique in the Americas. This new pre-press to print process utilizes proprietary separation techniques and special, high resolution printing plates for improved dot spacing and superior reproduction of fine detail images and text. The beverage line consists of four tea varieties ?Cannonball Black Iced Tea, Arrr Raspberry Iced Tea, Calypso Green Tea and Gunpowder Green Energy Tea, the newest addition to the line ?along with two additional drinks: Portside Fruit Punch and Mango Mutiny. Each 16oz beverage can has a distinctive design and color scheme that conveys the unique flavors associated with each variety. It also injects a healthy dose of fun and excitement for consumers, as the back panel of each container follows the adventures of Captain Black Jack Crowley and his faithful pet dog named Grog as they capture treasure and rare teas. The beverage cans are topped off with gold ends and black tabs for additional differentiation at point of purchase. "Two trends drove the introduction of the Black Jack brand: the popularity of flavored teas and 'big can' beverages," explains Gerry Martin, vice president of Marketing for Polar Beverages. "To distinguish ourselves from the competition, we needed stand-out graphics that would add a unique personality to our products. Crown worked closely with us and our creative partner, Hughes Design, to produce images with a spectacular level of detail." The environmental advantages of metal were also a key factor in Polar Beverages' decision to work with Crown. Beverage cans are lightweight, reducing freight and fuel costs, and excel in terms of recyclability. Cans are universally recycled with high return rates and the metals used in cans can be recycled infinitely with no degradation in quality. On average, today's aluminum cans are produced with 50% recycled material.Air Jordan