Soft-Drink Suppliers Want Bottles Back

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30916, 24 November 1965, Page 14

Soft-Drink Suppliers Want Bottles Back

Soft-drink manufacturers in Christchurch needed bottles to be filled about 10 times before they broke even on their cost and started to show a profit, said a past president of the Soft Drink Association (Mr W. V. Cowles) yesterday.

This was why deposits on certain types of soft-drink bottles had increased, he said. Mr Cowles said 260 z softdrink bottles had their deposit increased by 3d to 6d from the beginning of September. The only other increased deposits in Canterbury were on 7oz speciality lines such as Coca Cola, Fanta and Frosty.

Mr Cowles said soft-drink manufacturers were keen to get their bottles back. Although the deposit for a 260 z bottle was 6d, the cost of these,” he said. “The only reason we have put some bottle deposits up is to get some of the bottles back. If you don't put a value on the bottles, tney would get dumped out in the country. A lot of money would go down the drain.” The cost of the contents of the bottles had not changed. The wholesale price for 260 z bottles had decreased by 8d a dozen, after the sugar price drop. Cordial prices had also decreased by 3d a bottle wholesale.