Call me obsessive but I notice small (sometimes exceedingly small) changes in people, places, and things. Those observations get me to thinking about why these changes were made, and especially in the case of “things” there’s usually a financial reason behind the change.
Take changes in packaging, for example. I have seen firsthand the process that goes into packaging decisions. One of the most enduring “holy grails” of CPG (consumer package goods) manufacturing and marketing is finding the most economical tradeoff between the minimal amount of packaging material needed to protect a product and the most attractive packaging possible to entice the consumer to buy and rebuy that product. I have personally witnessed screaming matches between manufacturing and marketing executives during the development of the rollout plan for a product’s introduction into the marketplace.
So, what triggered me this time?
I consume a bottle of protein drink every morning, and I buy this product a case at a time, which is more economical. As the case level gets low, I order the next case. When the old case is empty, I open the new one. Usually, I put a few bottles in the ‘fridge because I like to drink them when they are cold.
A few days ago, I opened the new case, pulled out two bottles, and put them in the ‘fridge next to the old ones. That’s when I noticed the packaging change.
The old bottle is on the right, and the new bottle is on the left. Notice the difference?
The new bottle has eliminated the extension of the package that wraps around the cap.
You are thinking: So, what’s the big deal? Doesn’t it make it easier to open, with less packaging material wasted? Aren’t those good things!
Yes, they are good things from the consumer’s point of view.
From a manufacturer’s perspective, it is a really, really, good thing.
Here’s a high-level view of why derived from the detailed research I’ve done on this.
The bottle is the 8-ounce size. The previous version of the wrapper (called the sleeve), covering the cap, is approximately 36.79 square inches in size. Removing the section that covered the cap, like on the latest version, saves about 5 square inches of wrapper material.
The labels on most mainstream protein drink bottles are a type of shrink sleeve, which is a specialized label that wraps 360 degrees around a container and is applied using heat.
They are typically made from PETG (polyethylene terephthalate glycol). The key components of PETG—terephthalic acid, ethylene glycol, and cyclohexanedimethanol—are derived from petroleum or natural gas feedstocks.
There are many good reasons why PETG is used, but one stands out. It supports advanced light-blocking print technology to protect light-sensitive ingredients like protein drinks and vitamins.
It is also more expensive than other types of wrapper materials, like PVC.
While manufacturers typically do not publicly provide production cost and market share data, the best estimates of the cost of a fully printed shrink sleeve bottle wrapper hover around $.30 (cents per unit, not including application).
Shaving 5 square inches could reduce the unit price by about $.04 (cents per unit).
The RTD (ready-to-drink) protein beverage market is a significant industry. The global market size was estimated at $1.96 billion in 2025, with projections to reach $2.85 billion by 2030. The number of bottles this volume requires runs into the billions.
By some estimates, the manufacturer of my protein drink is estimated to produce as many as a billion bottles annually. Let’s compromise: one hundred million bottles.
Doing the cost savings math of shaving that 5 square inches off the wrapper, the annual savings is an estimated $4 million. Not a small amount.
The point of doing all this is to suggest that the next time you observe a change in one of your favorite products, that you think of the enormous effort that went into the decision making process behind the change, and the cost-savings motivation intended to protect the product’s profit margin.
And, if the cost of your favorite protein drink product rises with no apparent change in its appearance or composition, then check the price of petroleum in the commodity exchanges.
About the Author
Tim Lindner develops multimodal technology solutions (voice / augmented reality / RF scanning) that focus on meeting or exceeding logistics and supply chain customers’ productivity improvement objectives. He can be reached at linkedin.com/in/timlindner.