It’s not the first-time wine has come in cardboard but perhaps the first-time higher end wine will be drunk from cardboard containers. Meet the Frugal Bottle touted as the biggest innovation for wine and spirits since the launch of the glass bottle. The 75cl Frugal Bottle is made from 94% recycled paperboard with a food-grade liner to hold the wine or spirit. It can be refrigerated and keeps the liquid cooler for longer. Source: Timberbiz
The Frugal Bottle, which is comparable in cost to a labelled glass bottle, is the brainchild of British sustainable packaging company Frugalpac, which creates and supplies recycled paper-based products.
The first wine to go on sale in the Frugal Bottle is from the award-winning Italian vineyard Cantina Goccia and it is an unwooded Sangiovese red with a hint of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.
There are six reasons why the Frugal Bottle is unique.
- It’s lighter. The Frugal Bottle weighs just 83g so it is up to five times lighter than a normal glass bottle, making it easier to carry and lighter to transport.
- It’s better for the environment. An independent Life Cycle Analysis by Intertek found the Frugal Bottle, which is made from recycled paperboard with no chemicals, has a carbon footprint up to six times (84%) lower than a glass bottle and more than a third less than a bottle made from 100% recycled plastic. The Frugal Bottle’s water footprint is also at least four times lower than glass
- It’s easy to recycle again. Simply separate the plastic food-grade liner from the paper bottle and put them in your respective recycling bins. Or you can put the whole bottle in your paper recycling bin and the liner will be easily separated in the paper re-pulping process.
- It uses less plastic than a plastic bottle. The Frugal Bottle uses up to 77% less plastic. Only 15g compared with a 64g bottle made from 100% recycled plastic.
- It stands out. As the Frugal Bottle is made from recycled paperboard, it allows for 360-degree branding across the bottle. No other wine or spirits bottle looks or feels like it, so it stands out on shelf and table.
- It’s better for wine producers. The Frugal Bottle can be produced in the heart of their bottling facility, offers complete freedom on design and print, is more cost effective to transport while reducing their carbon footprint.
Hallgartan, one of the UK’s leading specialist wine merchants will be a UK distributor of wines and spirits in the Frugal Bottle.
The Frugal Bottle is also under active consideration by a number of leading UK supermarket chains and hospitality groups keen to promote sustainable packaging and will be available from other retail outlets across the UK, in Denmark, and Holland over the next few weeks.
The Frugal Bottle, which can also be used for sprits such as gin, vodka and rum, has already sparked a huge amount of interest in a drinks industry keen to cut their emissions and appeal to a new audience of consumers interested in sustainability.
Moving to the Frugal Bottle will allow wine producers to cut the carbon footprint of each bottle by up to 84% and reduce emissions from transporting bottles as the Frugal Bottles can be made and bottled on site. According to WRAP, the Waste andResources Action Program, the UK imports more than 1.6 billion bottles of wine a year.
