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“I think it is a new category,” Milligan said. “It’s not an RTD, it’s an RTG (ready to go.)”
But this new category isn’t without its limitations. The caps store only a couple milliliters of liquid or powder, making them off-limits for companies that want to use bulky natural sweeteners. Carbonation may also present a problem, as it has not been fully explored. And don’t expect to see delivery-cap equipped beverages in the budget section of the cooler case any time soon. IV Science's standalone caps will retail for somewhere between $0.99 and $1.50 – meaning beverage companies would be hard-pressed to offer a cap plus a bottle of water for less than $1.
However, Milligan said he expected most PowerCap equipped beverages to cost consumers between $1.99 and $2.49 each. That puts them in a similar price range as glaceau’s vitaminwater – owned by Coca-Cola – which is the kind of beverage Milligan believes delivery-cap-equipped drinks will compete against. That market positioning, though, could put Eisner’s Activate and other cap-equipped beverages in direct competition with the Coca-Cola empire. The beverage behemoth has crushed many competitors, and delivery caps will have to provide more than shot-lived novelty to survive. Milligan insists they do, but he and the other companies will have to wait and see if the sales figures bear out their claims.
Which Cap Company is Which?
Entrepreneurs interested in this category will find that they’re looking at three relatively-unknown companies. Here’s a quick who’s who.
Liquid Health Labs produces the PowerCap, which has already reached shelves in California. The company boasts that they offer complete turn-key solutions, but also know how to get out of the way – though there’s one area where they won’t budge. Liquid Health Labs requires that all beverages that use PowerCap include a nod to the cap product on the beverage’s label. Ken Milligan, Liquid Health Labs’ executive vice president, said that will actually help cross-promote geographically-disparate products, but the similar labeling could create marketing conflicts when products’ territories overlap. Milligan said he expects as many as 10 PowerCap equipped products to launch by the end of 2008, with announced products including X2 Sports out of Toronto and IV Science's stand alone caps.
Blast Cap Technologies, run by inventor Michael Anderson, offers a wide array of delivery cap designs – some of which aren’t even caps. Anderson claims to have “hundreds” of different designs available, and the demo videos on his website – blastmax.com – suggest he’s not kidding. Some designs use twists. Some use plungers and some use dual-chambered pouches. However, Blast Cap Technologies does not currently have a product on store shelves. Anderson says he has a project in the works, but can’t say anything about it. “I have a real heavy-duty strict confidentiality (agreement.)” he said, but “I know that when it comes out, everyone’s gonna know about it.”
Liteco is probably the odd-man-out in this suite of early players. The Italy-based company has interests that expand beyond the beverage market and while Marco Saulle, Liteco’s director of marketing, research and design, has more experience with delivery caps than the other players, his efforts have been hampered by a patent lawsuit filed by Michael Anderson. Saulle insists that his patents differ from Anderson’s, and expects to be out from under Anderson’s injunction shortly, but he’s mum about what delivery-cap-projects he might be working on currently. “I don’t have time or money to waste for lawsuits at this time,” he said.