Saba Chemical revived the King Pine brand by reintroducing the line's two original drop-shoulder bottles (far left).

The company plans to convert its remaining cylindrical bottles to drop-shoulder bottles in the future.

BROOKLYN, NY — Redesigned packaging can boost sluggish sales — but it can also lead to lost business when consumers no longer recognize the brand. That's what happened to the King Pine brand when its familiar drop-shoulder oval container was replaced with a cylindrical one.

Johnson Chemical, Coral Springs, FL, began manufacturing the original King Pine disinfectant in Brooklyn in the 1930s. In the late '80s the line's original drop-shoulder glass bottles were switched to PVC in conjunction with Novapak Corporation of Eatontown, NJ. Soon thereafter, the original owners retired leaving the line to their children, who moved production, marketing, and distribution to Florida. It was later acquired by King International, at which time production, marketing, and distribution moved to Ohio.

"In New York and surrounding areas, King Pine was a well known brand," says Jack Sabbagh, vice president of Saba Chemical, King Pine's current manufacturer. "But when it moved to Ohio, it started to evaporate in the marketplace." One reason for its demise was the proliferation of dollar stores that offered customers cheaper alternatives; the other reason was the change in its packaging.

In addition to moving the product to Ohio, King International altered the bottle design from a drop-shoulder oval to a plastic cylindrical container — a decision that proved to be a mistake. "When a product is in the market for such a long time, changing its container radically can be a disaster," says Sabbagh. By using a cylindrical bottle with a wraparound label, the product began to resemble every other disinfectant on the market. "Few companies have a license to produce a 19.9% retail pine cleaner like King Pine," says Sabbagh. "This is the strongest pine cleaner available on the market, and it is usually found only in industrial products. But by putting it in a cylindrical bottle, it was no longer distinguishable from other retail pine cleaners." In fact, over the years the product became virtually obsolete.

The More Things Change...

In 2005, King Pine changed ownership yet again — and the third time was indeed the charm. When Saba Chemical, Brooklyn, NY, purchased King Pine, the company made two decisions that brought the brand back from the brink of extinction: It moved the factory back to New York where the brand was well known, and it reverted to the original drop-shoulder shape.

The original King Pine line included a variety of cleaners and insecticides, explains Sabbagh, but the number-one seller was the pine cleaner. "I wanted to take baby steps," he says, "so I brought back only the pine cleaner."

Presently, the King Pine line consists of seven sizes: 8-, 15-, and 20-ounce cylinder bottles, 12- and 20-ounce drop-shoulder ovals, and one-gallon and half-gallon oblong PVC bottles with handles. Sabbagh didn't want to confuse the marketplace by introducing unfamiliar sizes that differed from King Pine's original size bottles, so he started by converting only the 12- and 20-ounce sizes back to the drop-shoulder oval bottles. He plans to convert all cylinder bottles to the drop-shoulder ovals and hopes to have them on the market in the near future.

The six-cavity molds used for the 12- and 20-ounce drop-shoulder bottles were the original molds that Novapak supplied and subsequently took ownership of when King International started producing its cylinder bottles. "When Sabbagh bought the company, we moved the molds for the drop-shoulder bottles back to our Philmont, NY, and Hazelton, PA, facilities to run the bottles," explains Rich Frungillo, regional sales manager for Novapak.

The PVC bottles are extrusion blow molded on a shuttle machine, which is interchangeable for two- through eight-cavity molds. "We used PVC for its clarity and resistance to harsh chemicals," says Frungillo. The King Pine products range between 8.5 and 9.5 pH balance.

The bottles are drop-shoulder ovals with tight radii. Their flat surfaces sport a simple four-color, double-sided paper label with the original artwork that Saba purchased from Model Graphics and Media, West Chester, OH. The only change that was made to the labeling was the addition of the word "original."

UCP in Bronx, NY, is responsible for mixing and filling all Saba Chemical products. Brad-Pak Enterprises Inc., Garwood, NJ, and McKernan Packaging, Reno, NV, provide the caps. Saba is standardizing the size of the cap for five container sizes and redesigning it to include the King Pine logo.

Instant Recall

Novapak began producing the 12-and 20-ounce bottles in November 2005 and starting shipping them to Saba Chemical in early 2006. The 12-ounce bottle was the first to return to the marketplace, while the 20-ounce bottle followed months later. Jetro Cash & Carry, Scarsdale supermarket, and General Trading, as well as a number of local distributors, have taken the brand back into their product line. "Our two bestsellers in the line are the original bottles," says Sabbagh. He plans to produce high volumes of each size in the first year and believes that a return to the original packaging will help him achieve this goal.

"A lot of customers thought the line was obsolete," says Sabbagh. "When they saw the original packaging and labeling, they realized it was the original product, and they were happy to see it back."

By bringing back the original bottle design, Saba Chemical hopes to rekindle memories of King Pine. "The first thing everyone says is, 'I remember when my grandmother used to use this. She would send me to the grocery store to buy this drop-shoulder bottle,'" says Sabbagh. "We are building our company on this bottle and people's memories of what King Pine looks like and how it works."