Six-carrier
Six-carrier , six-pack or six-carrier (Austria without Vorarlberg ) are names for the oldest and still most common multipack made of cardboard or polyethylene , which contains six beverage cans or bottles that are held together in this way. On the one hand, this should make transport easier for the consumer and, on the other hand, generate increased sales.
description
In Germany, six carriers for glass bottles usually have cardboard packaging. The polyethylene connectors are the classic variant as they are still occasionally used today, e.g. B. in the USA for cans . In Germany, cardboard was predominantly used and, since 2002, has been largely replaced by shrink film .
With the introduction of the can deposit on January 1, 2003, this type of container temporarily disappeared in Germany , as can sales fell so far that this additional packaging effort was no longer worthwhile for the beverage manufacturers.
After the can market slowly recovered, some of the multipacks also came back to the supermarket shelves. The pioneer here is the Coca-Cola company , which dared to venture out in 2009 with a 5 + 1 free action pack and since its success has regularly offered various, mostly action multipacks (e.g. 6 + 2 free ) brought the market. In 2015, Coca-Cola began to gradually replace its 0.33 liter single cans with foil packs of 4.
The first use of six-carrier was carried out by Coca-Cola under the direction of its manager at the time, Robert W. Woodruff . Woodruff's stated goal that a Coca-Cola should never be more than an arm's length away was approached in the 1920s when the six-pack carrier was invented for Coca-Cola in 1923. This became more and more popular with the invention of the refrigerator , as it was the first time that Coca-Cola could be taken home in larger quantities. As early as 1928, more bottled cola was being sold than in soda bars .
In 1967 the Beck & Co. brewery first introduced the three-tier carrier for beverage cans and in 1968 the six-tier carrier for returnable beer bottles on the German market. Unlike the "Open Basket Carrier" known from the US market, in which the bottles stand in recesses, Europa Carton developed the cardboard sleeve, which is still popular today, in collaboration with Beck & Co.
Sizes
The so-called six-pack is the classic variant of the multipacks in which the beverage packaging is arranged in two rows of three (2 × 3) each. There is also a triangular variant of the Perlquell brand , in which the arrangement is corresponding (1 + 2 + 3). There were and still are a few other packaging sizes:
- 2er ("pair on the mouth")
- 3 (1 × 3)
- 4er (2 × 2)
- 8er (2 × 4) (see also: Conti )
- 10 (2 × 5)
- 12er (3 × 4)
- 16 (2x8)
- 24 (4x6)
The container sizes (for cans) 12, 18 and 24 are called trays. They are open or welded with shrink film and are primarily used as transport packaging and not as sales packaging, which is why they are not to be regarded as multipacks in the actual sense. However, so-called carton sales of foiled trays also take place in retail, which in turn acts as a multipack.
A specialty among the multipacks are can advent calendars . They can be found, for example, as a beer can calendar in which the consumer is surprised with a different beer (0.5 L) behind each of the 24 doors. Coca-Cola has also been bringing out a new Advent calendar every year since 2013 in the form of the famous Coca-Cola Christmas truck. Initially with 24 cans of 0.15 L, then with 24 cans of 0.25 L, in the end there were only 14 cans of 0.25 L and 10 other surprises (e.g. notepad, stickers, Christmas hat, etc. )
Schoeller Arca Systems is offering a new six-pack concept for PET bottles . It is the so-called bottle carrier , into which the bottles are clipped below the neck ring. The bottle carrier replaces both cardboard and shrink film. If it is returned with the empty bottles, it can be recycled. Some beverage manufacturers (e.g. Gerolsteiner) are currently using the bottle carrier.
Colloquially the six pack rings is also called riot case , Mr. handbag , men handbag , Randaliererpäckchen , six round-bottomed flask or Maurer Radio called.
hazards
The polyethylene rings on six-pack carriers can pose a hazard to animals. Seabirds in particular get caught in the plastic parts and die from suffocation or starvation. According to relevant press reports in the late 1980s, many countries introduced legal regulations that demand better degradability of the plastic used.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Coca-Cola-Dosen.de: Overview of (almost) all Coca-Cola can multipacks
- ↑ Coca-Cola Germany: Coca-Cola and the legacy of Robert Woodruff
- ↑ Karl Hübner: A very special piece of cardboard is 50 years old , In: Ostfriesen-Zeitung, November 28, 2018, p. 15.
- ↑ Couple on the Maul website
- ↑ Coca-Cola-Dosen.de ": Overview of all Coca-Cola can advent calendars
