The Logic Behind Drinks Packging

Milk
One of the first drinks to be sold in bottles was milk. The reason for clear bottles being used was so consumers could see the contents. This was partly for a marketing purpose – to make it look fresh and tempting to drink – but also for practical purposes. Nowadays products contain best before dates but this wasn’t always the case. Milk was placed in clear bottles so people could see if it was going off. Milk bottles are now usually only used for milk delivered to homes with cartons and plastic bottles more common in shops. Cartons were originally used for marketing purposes with manufacturers able to illustrate them with text and images to attract consumers. The use of plastic bottles is simply cost as they are cheaper to produce.  
Wine
A distinguishing feature of wine bottles is the inward concave shape at the bottom of bottles. This didn’t just come about because of aesthetics though. It is called a punt and was originally necessary to prevent the opposite; an outward concave shape. This goes back to when bottles were hand-blown. It was not possible to ensure that the shape could be perfect and to mitigate the risk of an outward concave, meaning the bottle could not stand, a deliberate inward concave shape was created. Bottles are not typically hand-blown these days but this trend has continued, though not for any practical reason. Another distinguishing feature of wine bottles is corks. These are used because they release a small amount of oxygen into the bottle which helps it mature. Bottles are then usually stored on their side to keep the cork moist. This is to prevent the cork shrinking, something that would otherwise result in too much oxygen entering the bottle. This is not so important for sparkling wines, such as Champagne, as there is enough humidity from the gassiness of the wine to prevent the cork from shrinking too much. The colours of wine bottles are partly for marketing purposes although there is a practical reason too. This is more about distinguishing wines rather than absolute necessity. Some wine makers have certain types of wines poured into particular colour bottles so they can more easily identify them. Darker coloured bottles can also be advantageous in protecting wine from the sunlight. 
Carbonated Drinks
A well-known cola brand created a now iconic class bottle which was used to market the product. A clear bottle was used to make the contents seem tempting with the bottle shaped with groves and curves to make it look roughly like a cocoa bean. Carbonated drinks are not completely filled to the top. This is not, as some might believe, so consumers don’t get as much as they think they are paying for, but because there is a risk of expansion. If the contents got too hot there could be slight expansion causing the bottle to explode.
Cans 
Drinks cans were introduced in the 1960’s. They are made of aluminium or tin-plated steel and were first used for beer followed by carbonated drinks. The main reason was that it made drinks cheaper to package. There was originally a problem though, with some drinks reacting with the metal therefore affecting the taste. An interior plastic lining is now used to prevent this. 
Andrew Marshall ©