Which packaging innovation made Pepsi the first soft drink sold in a two-liter plastic bottle?

The two-liter plastic bottle was the packaging innovation that made Pepsi the first soft drink sold in a two-liter plastic bottle.

Pepsi introduced the format in 1976, helping establish the large plastic bottle as a practical package for soft drinks. The bottle was developed using technology associated with DuPont, whose work with polyethylene terephthalate, commonly called PET, helped make lightweight carbonated-drink containers possible.

Before large plastic bottles became common, soft drinks were mainly sold in returnable glass bottles, cans, or smaller containers. A two-liter bottle offered more servings for home use while reducing the weight and breakage risk associated with glass. It also supported the growth of family-size soft-drink purchases in supermarkets.

The claim concerns the two-liter size specifically, not plastic bottles in general. Pepsi’s innovation is sometimes confused with the later widespread use of other large PET formats, but the two-liter package is the milestone traditionally credited to Pepsi.