Early in 2000 we took a look at beermeister Miller as it prepared to take some of its nice, cold, frosty brew doggies out of their traditional glass bottles and aluminum cans and into plastic bottles -- a move hoping to capitalize on plastic's ease of recycling, lightness, toughness, and cooling aplomb.
Yesterday, things moved in the other direction, with Alcoa
What does it mean? Well, you can bet that Alcoa likes being out in front on this one. It's a similarly safe bet that Anheuser-Busch
Alcoa can't have been happy about the propagation of plastic drink bottles, as the single serving has moved past 12 ounces into megacalorie country. Here's one way the company can fight back. Or look at pop bottler Coca-Cola
And it's difficult to see Mentadent, a Church & Dwight
In all businesses -- but especially established, slow-growth ones -- any advantage or new way to juice sales is worth investigating. No product, not even beer, sells itself.
For the lowdown on another consumer products innovation, check out Procter & Gamble's Rising Tide, by Steven Mallas.
Fool contributor Dave Marino-Nachison doesn't own any of the companies in this story.