Reckitt Benckiser Inc. hopes a new flip-tip cap design for bottles of its French’s mustard line, along with bigger bottles, will kick start product sales.

The cap draws unused mustard back into the bottle to prevent product build-up. Dried mustard crust and watery discharges are a source of consumer irritation with mustard in squeezable bottles. The new cap with “a tri-cuspid valve” only allows product to flow in an outward direction. It will be used on seven SKUs of French’s mustard, including classic yellow and all specialty flavors.

The Wayne, N.J., firm also redesigned the bottle for improved gripping, adopting an hour-glass shape for the plastic container. Reckitt Benckiser added two larger-sized yellow mustard containers of 14- and 20-ozs. to complement the traditional 8 oz. version. The larger sizes appeal to heavy users and large families, groups which account for 70 percent of category sales. Specialty flavors will remain in 12-oz. squeeze bottles.