BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — H.J. Heinz Co. says it is making its iconic ketchup bottles a bit more green.
The food maker announced Wednesday that it will use Coca-Cola Co.'s plant-based plastic bottle technology for its ketchup.
Coca-Cola said it is the first partnership of its kind and they hope to push the use of its plant-based material into other parts of the food industry.
The world's largest soft-drink maker introduced the new bottle material in 2009. It's made with a mixture of traditional plastics and up to 30 percent plant-based material.
Coca-Cola hopes to eventually stop using traditional plastic, for which oil is a major ingredient.
Heinz said it will roll out the new bottle to the U.S. in June with 120 million bottles and plans to expand it globally.
The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the licensing agreement.
Heinz said the new material will increase its packaging costs at first but it does not plan to pass along those costs with higher prices.
Heinz and Coca-Cola said it could be the first of several agreements between the two companies, which they declined to detail but said could include work on distribution, purchasing, supply chain and health issues.