Glass bottles offer surprisingly bubbly sales

One of the big surprises in the record industry of late has been the resurgence in vinyl albums. Though they make up a small fraction of total music sales, vinyl LPs have become the fastest growing part of the record business.

Now a similar retro trend is happening in the beverage industry: Glass bottles are suddenly popular with consumers.

As an article in the Wall Street Journal points out, sales of pop in glass bottles rose 2.6 per cent last year in the U.S., while canned soda sales fell 1.9 per cent and pop in bottles fell 0.8 per cent.

Glass bottles make up less than two per cent of soda sales so the market is still small. But that hasn't stopped the big pop companies–Coke, Pepsi and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group–from capitalizing on the trend.

Pepsi this year launched 12-ounce glass bottles that feature a distinct swirl base. Coca-Cola, meanwhile, has increased availability of its famous contoured glass bottles.

One big advantage of glass for soda companies is they can charge more for the product than they can for cans and plastic bottles. We'll drink to that.

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