SEPTEMBER 2007: NEXT
NEXT
It was the packaging that caught our eye. The squishy pouch
that can be flattened once it’s empty to make room for
other more important items in the backpack. True, you
can’t toss it in the curbside-recycling bin when
you’re done, but Mark Jenson, founder of Portland-based
Gleukos, says you’re missing the point if you get hung up
on that. He fell in love with the packaging concept when he
traveled to Asia to study beverage markets. In Japan, he says,
they just don’t have the room to deal with rigid plastic
bottles. With less than 1% polyethylene terephthalate, Jenson
calls what he’s doing with the Gleukos pouches
“pre-cycling” because there’s less plastic
involved in the first place. And Jenson figured he was on to
something when he found out some runners fill baby-bottle
liners with sports drink to make it easier to swig on the run.
The pouches of “sweet wine” — that’s
what Gleukos means in Greek — have a no-leak valve and
retail for around $2.25 at stores such as Whole Foods and Wild
Oats. Glucose-based Gleukos is free of the reviled
high-fructose corn syrup that other jock drinks use. Which is
why its marketing slogan is the sly: “See you later
’gator.”
CHRISTINA WILLIAMS
