After many years of the temperature-changing inks that show consumers their beverages are properly chilled, the thermochromic inks from Chromatic Technologies Inc. (CTI) are now available for use as pull tabs found on beverage cans as well.

Supporting the global metal decoration business, the patent-pending thermochromic tabs are available in three colors: red, green or blue. The achievement is the culmination of three years of research and development that solved chemistry challenges, ensuring that the color change is meaningful to consumers, affordable for brands, and scalable in a global manufacturing environment at high quality.

Thermochromic tabs give brands an additional option for cold guarantee beyond the sidewall and is particularly useful for serving beverages in ice chests and crowded refrigerators.

"CTI has had an explosion of innovation in the last 12 months, and cold-activated tabs are one of the highest-scoring ideas for purchase intent across beer, soda and energy drinks," explains Lyle Small, founder and president of CTI.

"Many brands are spending incremental money on decorative colors for tabs. Our ‘cold-activated tabs’ now give brands the option to make that decoration functional and ensure consumers obtain cold beverages," Small continues.

CTI has a patent pending on the new technology and is now actively introducing the technology to customers. Additionally, the thermochromic feature has been qualified on crowns and closures.