EVERFRESH TO CHANGE FLASK BOTTLE AFTER DESIGN MET WITH CRITICISM

HALLIE FORCINIO

CHICAGO -- A flask-shaped bottle for Everfresh juice drinks will be replaced with another drink-on-the-go design due to complaints that the container looks too much like a pint wine bottle and encourages underage drinking.

"We are aggressively pursuing alternative packaging designs," said Cathy Yingling, spokeswoman for Everfresh Beverages here. "Package development is not an overnight process and we want to make sure any new design meets our demands for portability and alleviates concerns." The negative comments about the flask-shaped bottle began shortly after the juice drinks arrived on store shelves in May. Concern that there might be confusion about the contents came primarily from store managers and public safety officials in larger urban areas like Detroit, Chicago, Baltimore and Cleveland. The beverages are nationally marketed in urban, suburban and rural areas to a target market of 18- to 34-year-olds.

Judge C. Ellen Connolly, a municipal court judge in Cleveland, wrote Everfresh after hearing about the product from a probation officer. She's also asked grocers in Cleveland's inner city to remove the juice drinks from store shelves.

Everfresh's response thanked her for her letter and described the steps it was taking to meet objections about the flask design.

Since the controversy erupted, Everfresh officials have been meeting with community leaders. "We have listened very carefully," said Peter Vitulli, chairman and chief executive officer. "We want to be responsive . . . to the community concerns that were raised about young people drinking. In no way do we condone drinking by teens." As the redesign process proceeds, advertising and point-of-sale materials for the juice drinks have been changed to de-emphasize the bottle. "We're also doing store-by-store reviews to ensure the product is being sold in the juice department," reported Yingling.