FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to prepackaged or bottled beverages and

more particularly to the flavouring of such beverages.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention has been developed primarily for use in relation to flavoured milk

packaged in cartons for immediate consumption and will be described with reference to

this application. It will be appreciated, however, that the invention is not limited to this

particular use.

It is well known that plain milk is sold at a variety of retail outlets in small sized

"TETRA-PACK" type cartons intended for immediate consumption. Flavoured milk is

sold in the same way. Due to pricing constraints applied in Australia and elsewhere, the

profit for retailers of plain milk sold in this form is relatively marginal. The same pricing

constraints do not apply to flavoured milk and so these products are typically priced

substantially higher, often by a factor of three or more. However, the wholesale price is

also substantially more than that of plain milk, making the flavoured product in this form

relatively expensive for both the retailer and the consumer. A more cost effective

flavouring process would enhance profit margins for the retailers and reduce the price to

consumers.

A further problem with prepackaged beverages, and in particular with milk products

sold in TETRA-PACK cartons is that of hygiene. When the carton is opened, the lip is

necessarily contacted by the hands of the user, which may not have been recently cleaned.

Moreover, the carton will normally have been handled many times prior to that during

packing, transportation and stacking on shelves. If the consumer then drinks directly from

the lip, a hygiene problem is immediately apparent.

In an attempt to address this problem, straws are often used. However, this is not

always successful. Retailers periodically run out of stock and are unable to supply the

straws. In any case, the straws themselves are often handled or stored in unhygienic

conditions. A further problem is that because the retailer is not normally able to charge an

additional price for straws, their supply effectively further reduces the profit margin.

Consequently, there is no incentive for the retailer to supply a straw with each carton, and

the consumer will often not think to ask.

In order to address the particular hygiene problem associated with the handling of

straws, the technique of providing individually pre-wrapped straws is also known.

However, these are even more expensive and consequentially, there is even less incentive

for retailers to stock and diligently provide them to customers. Accordingly, they have not

found widespread acceptance. Many of the factors outlined above apply not only to milk,

but to many other beverages such as mineral waters, cordials, carbonated beverages, colas

and the like.

A further problem relates to stock and inventory control. Most ranges of milk,

carbonated mineral waters, cordials, and other beverages are produced in a variety of

different flavours. Consequently, a considerable amount of valuable fridge space is

required in retails outlets in order to provide adequate stocks of the full range.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate at least

some of these disadvantages of the prior art.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the invention as presently contemplated provides a flavouring

receptacle adapted to contain a relatively concentrated flavouring agent for use with a

relatively unflavoured plain beverage, whereby mixing of the flavouring agent with the

plain beverage enables a consumer to produce a flavoured beverage.

Preferably, the flavouring receptacle is adapted to be sold together with a

prepackaged beverage of appropriate predetermined relative volume, thereby enabling the

consumer to produce the flavoured beverage for immediate consumption at the point of

sale.

Preferably also, the flavouring receptacle is generally tubular, and adapted to be

opened at both ends. The tubular receptacle is preferably proportioned such that, with the

ends open, the receptacle can be used as a straw once the flavouring agent has been added

to the beverage. In this embodiment, the height of the flavouring receptacle is preferably

greater than the height of the beverage container to avoid loss of the straw within the

container.

The flavouring agent is preferably sealed within the receptacle by means of

perforated, removable or frangible end caps. In one embodiment, the receptacle is

hygienically sealed in an outer wrapper adapted for removal by the consumer immediately

prior to use. The flavouring is preferably in the form of a powder, a liquid, crystals or

tablets.

The beverage is preferably plain milk, prepackaged in a "TETRA-PACK" type

carton.

In a particularly preferred aspect, the invention consists in a flavouring receptacle

containing a predetermined portion of flavouring agent for sale and use in conjunction with

a compatible pre-packaged unflavoured beverage of appropriate relative volume, whereby

a consumer is able to select and mix the flavouring agent with the unflavoured beverage at

the point of sale to produce a flavoured beverage for immediate consumption, said

flavouring receptacle being generally elongate and tubular in shape and being adapted for

subsequent use as a straw through which to consume the flavoured beverage.

Preferably, the flavouring agent takes the form of a plurality of relatively small solid

granules, retained within the straw by liquid permeable retaining means. Advantageously,

this arrangement allows the consumer to control the intensity of flavouring delivered to the

beverage, according to the rate at which the liquid is sucked through, and hence the "dwell

time" within, the straw. This also obviates the need for the consumer to dispense the

flavouring agent into the beverage as a separate manual process step.

In the preferred embodiment, the retaining means include a perforated cap disposed

at each end of the straw. The perforations are preferably configured to be sufficiently small

to retain the flavouring granules within the straw, and sufficiently large to allow relatively

unimpeded passage of liquid through the straw. Each end cap preferably takes the form of

an inwardly extending conical formation, to provide an increased surface area for the

perforations, and hence a greater cross-sectional flow area for the liquid to pass through

into the straw.

Preferably, the internal region of the straw is not filled entirely with flavouring

granules, so that a free space is left to facilitate mixing of the flavouring with the plain

beverage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example

only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:-

Figure 1 is a side view showing a standard TETRA-PACK type plain milk carton;

Figure 2 is a side view showing a flavouring receptacle for use with the plain milk

carton of Figure 1 according to a first embodiment of the invention;

Figure 3 is a side view showing a flavouring receptacle in the form of a straw,

according to a second embodiment of the invention;

Figure 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing one end of the flavour straw of

Figure 3, including a detail of the perforated end cap; and

Figure 5 is a plan view of the end cap of Figure 4.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Referring to the drawings, the invention provides a flavouring receptacle 1 adapted to

contain a predetermined measure of relatively concentrated flavouring agent 2 for use with

a relatively unflavoured plain beverage. In this case, the plain beverage is milk, prepacked

in a TETRA-PACK type carton 3.

In a first embodiment of the invention as shown in Figure 2, the flavouring receptacle

1 takes the form of a tube 4 having removable tear-of ends 5. The tube is initially

packaged within a surrounding hygienically sealed disposable wrapper (not shown). The

interior volume of the tube is adapted to contain a predetermined measure of the flavouring

concentrate, appropriate for the volume of beverage with which the receptacle is intended

to be sold. The overall shape and proportions of the tube enable its use as a straw once the

flavouring agent has been removed. In cases where larger volumes of flavouring are

required, the tube may be formed with an elliptical cross-sectional profile so that

subsequent use as a straw is still feasible.

In use, it is envisaged that the consumer would purchase a carton of unflavoured

beverage such as milk together with a desired flavouring initially contained with the

tubular receptacle or "flavour straw". The outer disposable wrapping is then removed and

the ends 5 torn from the receptacle. The consumer then empties the flavouring concentrate

into the carton to produce the flavoured beverage which is then consumed through the

flavouring receptacle, functioning as a straw. If necessary, to ensure complete discharge of

the flavouring, the drinker can initially blow through the straw. Advantageously, the

strength of the beverage can be varied by altering the amount of flavouring to be added.

In a second embodiment of the invention as shown in Figures 3 to 5, the flavouring

agent takes the form of a plurality of solid granules 10. The granules are retained within

the straw by retaining means in the form of end caps 11. The end caps incorporate

perforations 12 sufficiently small to contain the flavouring granules and sufficiently large

to allow relatively unimpeded passage of liquid through the straw. The end caps may be

retained in place by an interference fit, circumferential ridges, a suitable adhesive, heat

shrinkage, plastic welding or any combination of these methods.

As best seen in Figure 4, the end caps are generally conical in shape to provide a

larger surface area relative to flat end caps of comparable diameter. The larger surface area

allows a larger number of perforations, so as to increase the effective cross sectional flow

area for the liquid to pass through, into the straw. This increase in surface area will be

apparent from Figure 5, which is a plan view of the conical end caps, but also shows the

substantially elongate perforations projected onto a plane perpendicular to the straw as

circular apertures of significantly smaller size. The end caps may also include additional

filtration elements, layers or materials as required.

Advantageously, this embodiment of the invention provides the user with a degree of

control over the intensity of the flavouring, according to the rate at which the beverage is

sucked through, and hence the dwell time of the liquid within the straw. This embodiment

of the invention also has the advantage that the consumer is not required to open the

flavouring receptacle and manually dispense the contents into the main beverage, as a

separate preparation step prior to consumption. The arrangement is thus considerably less

time consuming and more convenient. In this embodiment of the invention, it has also

been found that by only partially filling the straw with flavouring granules, the resultant

free space provides for enhanced agitation of the granules and hence improved mixing

which in turn results in a more uniform distribution of flavouring within the beverage.

The flavouring receptacle or straw is preferably produced from a wax coated paper.

It will be appreciated, however, that extruded plastics or any other suitable materials may

be used. Moreover, although the invention has been developed primarily for use in relation

to flavoured milk, it is obviously applicable to other forms of flavoured drinks such as

mineral waters, sodas, milkshakes, cordials, alcoholic beverages, and the like. It may also

be applied to hot beverages such as tea, coffee, hot chocolate, etc. Other possible additives

include vitamin supplements, oral pharmaceuticals, and the like.

It is further envisaged that in alternative embodiments, the flavouring concentrate

may be deposited on the inner surface of the tube or straw, for example in crystalline form,

for progressive dissolution into the beverage as it passes upwardly through the straw

toward the drinkers mouth. In that case, the separate step of initially depositing the

flavouring into the beverage would not be required.

In another variation, the flavouring receptacle may also contain filtration elements,

such as small activated carbon filter cartridges particularly for use with beverages which

may have not been packaged under sterile conditions. This form of the invention may also

be used, for example, to produced a flavoured and purified beverage directly from domestic

tap water.

In yet a further variation, a tubular receptacle in the form of a straw incorporating

filtration elements but without flavouring may be provided as a simple and effective means

of water purification. This variation is particularly applicable to hikers, campers or where

a domestic water supply contains impurities.

Because the primary forms of the invention contemplate the supply of a flavour straw

together with a prepackaged beverage to the consumer, many of the hygiene problems

previously associated with this form of packaging are avoided. Furthermore, by permitting

the sale of a relatively inexpensive unflavoured beverage together with an effective

flavouring agent integrated with a straw, it is envisaged that retailers will be able to achieve

substantially enhanced profit margins over the current form of sale of both flavoured and

unflavoured beverages, and particularly milk. Furthermore, the consumer can be provided

with a greater variety of flavour selection, optionally involving the combination of a

number of different flavours, and the possibility of applying the flavouring at any desired

concentration. Also, because the flavouring component of the beverage will normally have

a longer shelf life, particularly in the case of milk, if any unused product needs to be

discarded, wastage of the flavouring component at least can be avoided. Also, because the

retailer can stock a relatively large number of plain beverages in the valuable fridge space,

with the flavouring receptacles stored elsewhere, stock and inventory control is greatly

simplified. In all these respects, the invention represents a commercially significant

improvement over the prior art.

Although the invention has been described with reference to specific examples, it

will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention may be embodied in many

other forms.