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Company vice president Damon Hill has long been associated with the motor and power sports industries. A few years ago, while working on various projects with US-based teams and athletes, it came to his attention that the unique performance requirements of these athletes had been overlooked by other sports drink manufacturers.

“We researched what was on the market and quickly determined that most products had been formulated for action sports or sports in general, and didn't offer anything more than basic hydration to the athlete. Nothing had been developed for the niche requirements of the motor sport and power sport athletes,” said Hill.

Professional athletes constantly function in extreme and dangerous conditions compared to most other sports. In developing this product, the goal was to create a formulation that would enhance the athletes’ mental acuity, sensory control, system management and hydration – crucial to ensure the highest level of athletic performance.

“When you're competing in demanding conditions, sometimes at speeds of more than 200 miles an hour, it’s important that your system is balanced and your reactions are sharp. We believe that Sportsdrink+ delivers such an advantage,” added Hill.

Packaging performance “When we first looked at bottles, everything we saw had panels and ribs which wouldn't integrate well with a full-body sleeve label," said Hill. "The bottles didn’t look aerodynamic, sleek and fast – all of the attributes you associate with performance. We were developing a product that would help these professionals achieve their highest output, yet the bottles just didn’t project the image we wanted. That is, until we came across the Amcor bottle.”

Amcor’s PowerFlex bottle features a revolutionary patented panel-less design that takes hot-fill (185° degrees F) bottle options to a new level. Amcor’s structural design not only eliminates the panels, but unlike competitive containers, PowerFlex has a large, completely smooth label panel – free of any kind of ribbing.

Hill selected one of two stock PowerFlex™ bottles: a16.9oz dome-shouldered design with a 38mm finish. (The other stock option is a 16oz long-neck bottle.) This enabled the company to launch quickly without incurring any additional tooling costs.

“Where our graphics were concerned, we wanted something technical yet stylish," said Hill. "Because a lot of highly technical sporting equipment is made from materials such as carbon fibre and titanium, we decided to incorporate that look onto our label. The look needed to mirror the technology that's in the bottle."