In January 1969 at the Bloomfield Technical Center, Gigliotti began a single-mold, blow-molded bottle test program, utilizing every candidate polymer from each of the polymer research labs under his direction.  He also began an internal organoleptic, shelf-life and toxicity testing program for each of these materials in the Bloomfield Technical Center, and arranged to ship test quantities of the more promising candidates to each of the four beverage companies. 

 

One day in March/April 1969, Gigliotti received a phone call from Mr. Kehoe, President of Coca-Cola USA, requesting that an urgent meeting be arranged for the next day that would himself and several other top Coke executives, along with the CEO of Monsanto and any other necessary Board Members or Company Executives.  Michael asked, "Why?"  Mr. Kehoe replied that, "because, against all of our technical predictions, the current batch of "dirty-brown" bottles work, and we must discuss the future."  (These "dirty-brown" bottles were made from a copolymer of 70% acrylonitrile and 30% styrene; after much work a clear, lightly-yellow-colored bottle was made.)


The meeting was arranged for the next day, in the Monsanto Boardroom in St. Louis.  Gigliotti chaired the meeting. Among the Coca-Cola group were Mr. Woodruff; Mr. Kehoe, Ira Herbert, Coca-Cola Product Sales Director; the Director of Coca-Cola Research and manager of patent rights; and Harry Teasley, a young packaging researcher.   Monsanto's participants included Gigliotti; Monty Throdall, Corporate Technical Director and Board Member; Charles Somers, President and CEO of Monsanto; Jim Crawford, Corporate Vice President and General Manager of the Packaging Division; and Frank Reese, Corporate Vice President and General Manager of the Polymer Division.

 

Mr. Herbert began the meeting with a slide presentation that included:

  • A report from Opinion Research Corporation, indicating that whichever cola company, Coca-Cola or Pepsi-Cola, came up with a plastics bottle first, it would take away 70% of the market from its competitor

  • A report from Princeton Research Inc., indicating that a complete study of all possible combinations of polymer molecules pointed to there being very slim, perhaps no, probability of there ever being a plastic bottle that would meet Coca-Cola's requirement of a six-month carbonation shelf life and pass Coca-Cola's taste test.

  • An internal Coca-Cola research report, indicating that their tests of the recent 'dirty brown' batch of Monsanto test bottles showed that this polymer, used in standard-sized bottles, would pass the necessary Coke requirements with an almost 100% probability.