One of New Zealand’s iconic kiwiana products, L&P, has ditched its classic brown-bottled look and will now come in clear bottles instead.
It’s the first time in its 119-year history that L&P has changed its packaging, though the Coca-Cola Company, which produces L&P, previously considered changing the packaging from brown to clear in 2022.
The change in packaging was made due to the better “recyclability” of clear plastic, the company said in a statement.
The owner of Four Square Paeroa, Tim Watts, said that in his shop, L&P was the second-most-sold carbonated drink, behind the classic Coke and ahead of Coke Zero.
“It’s a staple product ... that we would never not have on our shelves,” Watts told the Waikato Herald.
He said he had worked in several different Four Square supermarkets around the country and L&P had always been sold.
“But in Paeroa, it’s a whole different level.
“People are really proud of it, it’s pretty iconic.”
Watts even has a dedicated fridge just for L&P in his shop. He said locals, as well as tourists, bought the drink.
“Tourists come here, see the [sculpture] and want to buy a bottle.
“It’s kind of a tick-box thing to do when you are here.”
Watts said so far, the feedback about the clear bottles had been mixed.
“It’s almost like we’re talking about politics – which side are you on.”
He said while he liked the classic brown bottle, the clear version was starting to grow on him.
“I think it pops on the shelf a bit more and people like to see what they drink.”
Watts believed the clear bottle would grow on other critics as well.
“Anything that puts our town on the map [is a good thing].”
Hauraki District Mayor Toby Adams said he, too, received some mixed feedback, as some people embraced the new look while others didn’t want to “change an icon”.
“There is some really annoyed people out there ... but we gotta move with the times.
“Change is only temporary and then it becomes the new normal.”
“I don’t think it’s gonna stop people from drinking L&P.”
Adams said the recycling aspect was understandable and people should just get on board.
“We all gotta do our bit.”
Coca-Cola Oceania head of marketing New Zealand Tracey Evans said the company recognised L&P as a “proper Kiwi icon”, so the company didn’t make the change lightly.
“We’ve been working on this for a while to make sure we got it right.
“[It] gives every bottle a better chance of being recycled back into another bottle. It’s a meaningful step that helps future-proof a classic.
“We’re still the same old L&P Kiwis have known forever.”
When asked why the move from brown to clear wasn’t made in 2022, when it was discussed due to Sprite changing its bottles from green to clear, Coke said in a statement: “The shift ... was always planned – it’s just taken time to get it right before bringing it to market."
The company said NielsenIQ data showed L&P has grown 21% over the past five years.
Clear bottles will progressively replace brown plastic across all bottle sizes nationwide this month.
To mark the move, the giant L&P bottle sculpture in Paeroa, has received a makeover and is sporting a half-brown, half-yellow look, for a limited time.
L&P – Lemon and Paeroa – was created around 1907 after Arthur Wohlman analysed naturally carbonated water from the Ōhinemuri spring.
That water was mixed with lemon juice to create the kiwiana drink.
The property on which the spring sat was purchased by Robert Fewell and his brother-in-law, Frank Brinkler, in 1908, who built a factory and bottled the water.
In 1915, the company was sold off to Menzies and Company, which opened a larger-scale factory in Paeroa.
In the 1990s, L&P was marketed with the iconic slogan “world famous in New Zealand”.
A 7m-high, 1.3m-diameter sculpture of an L&P bottle was built in the late 1960s and quickly became a popular tourist destination.
The L&P sculpture has received special makeovers in the past, including in 2024 when it was “frozen” and placed under “wraps” to mark the launch of frozen L&P at McDonalds.
In 2023, the giant bottle was whitewashed in anticipation of a repaint.
Danielle Zollickhofer is the Waikato news director and a multimedia journalist at the Waikato Herald. She joined NZME in 2021 and is based in Hamilton.