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What Changed in Coca-Cola’s Bottle Design? The 2024 PET Redesign Explained

Coca-Cola’s 2024 bottle redesign targeted lighter PET packaging in the United States and Canada. Here’s what changed, which sizes were named and how it differs from the contour glass bottle.
From TheFinanceBase Team3 min to read
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Coca-Cola’s clearest documented bottle redesign announcement is a 2024 change to lightweight PET plastic bottles in the United States and Canada—not a replacement of its historic contour glass bottle. The company said the new shapes use less plastic and were planned for selected drink brands and sizes. Its contour bottle, meanwhile, has evolved since its introduction.

What changed on the new Coca-Cola bottle?

On March 28, 2024, The Coca-Cola Company announced lighter-weight PET bottle shapes for selected sparkling beverages in the United States and Canada. The company said the redesign used less raw material while preserving bottle performance. It described a change to plastic packaging, not an end to the contour glass bottle. Coca-Cola’s announcement named these sizes and brands:

  • 12-ounce bottles for Trademark Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Minute Maid Refreshments and Minute Maid Aguas Frescas.
  • 16.9-ounce bottles for the same listed brands.
  • 20-ounce bottles for the same listed brands.

The company said the new designs applied to virgin plastic and 100% recycled plastic bottles, excluding the cap and label. It explained that PET packaging is made by heating resin, injecting it into preforms and inflating those preforms in molds; the preform design and bottle shape help determine how much material is needed while maintaining performance.

Did Coca-Cola change its iconic contour bottle?

The 2024 announcement concerns PET plastic packaging. It does not say that Coca-Cola replaced its historic contour glass bottle. The distinction matters because the familiar contour design is associated with glass, while the announced changes concern specific plastic formats.

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Coca-Cola’s official history says the bottle-design challenge was issued in 1915, asking for a shape recognizable by touch in the dark or if broken. The Root Glass Company design was selected in early 1916 and entered production that year; most bottlers were using the distinctive bottle by 1920. The company’s contour bottle history also says the design changed over time: the original patent form differed somewhat from the bottle that went into production, and the package was recast for King and Family sizes in 1955. Coca-Cola’s Spain FAQ likewise identifies the Contour as the distinctive shape of its glass bottles and recounts its origins.

So “kept for decades” can describe the enduring contour identity, but it should not be read to mean that one exact bottle shape has remained unchanged.

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Why is Coca-Cola making its PET bottles lighter?

The stated goal is to reduce the amount of plastic used in the bottle while retaining its durability and function. Alejandro Santamaria, the company’s Senior Director for Global Packaging Development and Innovation, said Coca-Cola had been “right-weighting” bottles, reducing them from 27 to 21 grams over the preceding 10 years. He said the new modeling technology brought the bottle weight to 18.5 grams. These are company-reported figures in its 2024 announcement, not an independent measurement.

Coca-Cola also projected that in 2025, compared with 2024, the designs would avoid use of new plastic equivalent to about 800 million bottles and reduce emissions by an amount equivalent to taking more than 17,000 cars off the road for one year. Those were company estimates for a future comparison, not verified realized results in the announcement.

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Where and when were the new bottles rolling out?

Coca-Cola said the lighter PET designs would roll out gradually in the United States and Canada during 2024. The announcement does not establish current availability for every listed brand, size or market. It said the company was testing whether to apply the designs to 2-liter and 24-ounce PET bottles; those sizes were under testing, not confirmed rollout formats.

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Is the 2026 Coca-Cola identity update the same bottle redesign?

No. On July 20, 2026, Coca-Cola announced a separate global visual identity system, with a stated rollout across Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The company said it would affect packaging, retail environments, equipment and digital experiences. For Zero Sugar, the update included larger “Zero Sugar” text, a prominent black Dynamic Ribbon on cans and a black cap on PET packaging. The announcement describes a brand identity refresh, not the same initiative as the 2024 North American lightweight PET redesign. The company’s identity announcement quotes Arnab Roy, President, Coca-Cola Global Category, describing the goal as greater clarity and consistency across brand experiences.

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