13 Jul 2020 Light, green, funky – new paper wine bottle
As sustainability ratchets up to the top of consumer concerns, the number of wine bottle alternatives is growing. Here’s news of the aptly titled Frugal bottle, a paper bottle that’s already commercialised.
Quality wine comes in all sorts of packaging: boxes, cans, pouches, even slim plastic bottles that can fit through a mail slot. Of course, the bottle is still king — but even that classic container isn’t beyond innovation. British packaging and design branding company, Frugalpac, has just launched a standard-sized wine bottle made mostly out of recycled paper.
The Frugal Bottle is a 750ml bottle “made from 94 percent recycled paperboard with a food-grade liner to hold the wine or spirit,” according to Frugalpac. Not only is it “comparable in cost to a labelled glass bottle,” but it can also “be refrigerated and keeps the liquid cooler for longer.”
On environmental aspects, its Frugalpac chief executive Malcolm Waugh says, “Our mission is to design, develop and supply sustainable packaging. The Frugal Bottle is up to five times lighter than a glass bottle, has a carbon footprint up to six times lower and is easy to recycle again.
“We’ve had fantastic feedback from people who’ve trialed the Frugal Bottle. As well as the superior environmental benefits, it looks and feels like no other bottle you have ever seen.”
Digging into the specifics, a Frugal Bottle weighs about 28g, whereas glass bottles can weigh about 453g. Additionally, Frugalpac says that beyond offering a carbon footprint that is 84 percent lower than a glass bottle, it’s also “more than a third less than a bottle made from 100 paper recycled plastic,” with a “water footprint is also at least four times lower than glass.”
And, yes, the paper bottle is easy to recycle — because the liner inside is removable: “Simply separate the plastic food-grade liner from the paper bottle and put them in your respective recycling bins.”
The new Frugal Bottle has debuted with Italy’s Cantina Goccia who is using it for their 2017 3Q wine — a Sangiovese retailing in the UK for about $16. On top of its other benefits, this first bottle shows off another intriguing trait: The artwork can easily cover the entire surface.
“When some of our top hotel customers saw samples of our paper wine bottle, there was no hesitation in their minds that this type of bottle would be well received in their dining rooms,” said Cantina Goccia owner Ceri Parke. “It’s much lighter than glass, easier to transport and friendlier to the planet.”
Frugalpac is currently taking orders for the machines used to produce the bottles, with delivery planned for next year — and interest is primarily in the U.K. and Europe.
“Frugalpac’s business model is to supply Frugal Bottle machines for wine producers or packaging companies to manufacture the bottles on their site, cutting carbon emissions even further,” Waugh added.
“Materials can be purchased locally through existing paperboard printers to give maximum freedom of design and the best commercial offering.”
The Frugal bottle is not the world’s first paper wine bottle. In 2013, Stranger and Stranger launched Paperboy in the UK and US, making it the first of its kind in the wine sector.
Source: www.drinksfeed.com; www.foodandwine.com