The bottle says it all. That's what Reebok International Ltd. (Canton, Mass.) and Clearly Canadian Beverage Corp. (Vancouver, B.C.) are hoping with their new enhanced water beverage.

Enhanced with vitamins, minerals and electrolytes, the water beverage is targeted toward today's active, health-conscious consumer. The sleek design of the bottle, with its shrink-film label, is helping to promote this.

"We looked for the most innovative design possible. We look at the package, not as a label or a bottle, but as one package," says Jonathan Cronin, vice president of marketing, CC Beverage, Burlington, Wash. "The shrink label melds with the bottle almost flawlessly. When we were looking at this design, it all came together as one. The shrink film does that better than any label right now."

To produce the label, Clearly Canadian first sends artwork to Farmingdale, N.Y.-based Seal-It Inc., where distortions and step and repeats are done. After Clearly Canadian signs off on a color key and final adjustments are made, Seal-It engraves cylinders for the seven-color gravure printing process.

Supplied from Bonset, the 2-mil PVC film is printed and slit on a 40-in. Seal-It press at 800 fpm. Solvent inks with specially formulated pigments give the label "pop," says Seal-It president Sharon Lobel. She explains, "The colors are brighter and there is a gloss. When you walk down the grocery aisle, the label will draw your eye to it."

Then the material is seamed on a Seal-It seaming machine at 600 to 700 fpm to a 0.5-mm tolerance. "It's very intricate," comments Lobel. "If it goes beyond [0.5 mm], we reject it."

From here, seam integrity and print quality is 100 percent inspected with quality control and finishing equipment at 600 to 700 fpm. The label is finally oscillated for a flawless seam, boxed and shipped out.

Compared to paper labels, Cronin agrees that, "Shrink film produces a more eye-catching product. It delivers a premium and better-looking package overall."

More information:

Seal-It, Inc., 516/935-3965, fax: 516/935-3967. Enter 265

Bonset America Corp., 336/375-0234, fax: 336/375-7842. Enter 266

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