Lotte says fizz will live after green bottle retired

Chilsung Cider’s green plastic bottle, left, to become transparent to adhere to the government’s environment protection policy. [LOTTE CHILSUNG BEVERAGE]

The iconic green bottle of Chilsung Cider will soon be no more, as the maker of the popular beverage shifts to clear plastic.

A look that goes back 35 years, to the origins of the product, is being retired.

The decision was made ahead of a Dec. 25 deadline set by the Ministry of Environment in which transparent polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is being required, as it is more environmentally-friendly than PET that has color.

Starting Wednesday, beverage firms will no longer be able to use colored PET bottles as the relevant legislation goes into effect. They will also have to use a label that is more easily detachable.

The rollout is in process.

Lotte Chilsung Beverage, the maker of the beverage, started manufacturing the new bottles last week and expects the drink to be in the clear bottle in the shops in January.

The beverage maker said it spent a year testing the new PET bottles to make sure that the overall quality of Chilsung cider - from fizziness to scent and color - remains unchanged.

Lotte decided to keep the green-colored label for Chilsung cider drinks as it finds that the color delivers a sense of fizziness. It also added the name Chilsung Cider on the bottom part of the bottle.

Removing the green from the bottles is seen as a major change for Lotte, as it is related to the drink’s identity.

“The renewed Chilsung Cider, which has been updated for the first time in 35 years, is the product that not only delivers its original taste, scent and identity, but also reflects the values of environment protection,” said a spokesperson for Lotte Chilsung Beverage in a statement. The company “will continue to work on recycling resources by conducting research and development on diverse packaging that could make recycling easier and to initiate a campaign of collecting PET bottles from consumers.”

Lotte first introduced Chilsung Cider, which is often said to taste like Sprite, in a 1.5 liter bottle in 1984.

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]