British sustainable packaging company Frugalpac has beaten off competition from Coca-Cola, Corona Beer and Stella Artois to win global packaging innovation awards for its paper Frugal Bottle.
The Frugal Bottle and US wine brand Signal 7 Wines won the Best in Class for Technical Design in Packaging Innovation at PAC Global’s Packaging Awards at the Futures Edge Summit in New York City. They also received an Award of Distinction in the Sustainable Design category.
The Frugal Bottle is the world’s first and only commercially available wine, spirits and olive oil bottle made from recycled paper.
It’s made from 94% recycled paperboard, has a carbon footprint up to six times lower (84%) than a glass bottle and is five times lighter too. The launched in July 2020 with award-winning Italian winery Cantina Goccia.
Now over 30 drinks brands, including Signal 7 Wines, are using the bottle around the world for wines, gins, vodkas, tequila, calvados, cocktails and olive oil. The paper bottles are on sale in 20 countries including Japan, North America, the UK, across Europe, Scandinavia, Australia, and soon will be available in South Africa and New Zealand.
The Frugal Bottle is developing a growing following in the North American market. Recent research by Lux Research found more than 35 million Americans are interested in finding more sustainable wine packaging.
As well as Signal 7 Wines, two other US drinks producers are launching spirits in the Frugal Bottle in the next two months – Distillery 98’s Half Shell Vodka and Demon Spirits’ Demon Spiced Rum and Trop Coco Rum.
This follows on from the sale of the first Frugal Bottle Assembly Machine to North America to Canada’s KinsBrae Packaging. The machine, which will be based in Ontario, will help to meet the growing demand for North American brands wanting to move to the more sustainable packaging of Frugal Bottles.
As well as enquiries to make 120m Frugal Bottles, Frugalpac also has strong enquiries from more than 100 other international brand, contract packing and packaging companies to buy Frugal Bottle Assembly Machines. Each machine will be able to produce 2.5 million Frugal Bottles a year.
The company’s vision is to place bottling machines in the heart of bottling plants, co-packers or packaging companies around the world to reduce the carbon footprint of its sustainable packaging even further – creating eco-friendly Frugal Bottle hubs around the world.
Frugalpac Chief Executive Malcolm Waugh said:
“We’re really honoured to have won these packaging innovation awards with Signal 7 Wines against such a strong field. We are particularly pleased to have helped Signal 7 become the first drinks company in the world to solely use paper bottles for its wine.
“We are starting to see a real paper bottle revolution with more and more drinks brands making the move to more sustainable packaging.
“The fact that at least 35 million Americans want more sustainable wine packaging shows there is a huge consumer demand for paper bottles and KinsBrae Packaging’s new Frugal Bottle Machine in Canada will help drinks brands enter this market and reduce the carbon footprint of our bottles even further.”
Rob VanRenterghem, founder of Signal 7 Wines, said:
“We are elated to be recognised for our paper wine bottles. Using the Frugal Bottle allowed us to deliver an elegant lighter alternative to heavy glass bottles and reflected our eco-friendly wine-producing ethos.
“At Signal 7 Wines we remain committed to reducing our impact on the planet and we are delighted to be at the forefront of the paper bottle revolution in the USA.”
The Signal 7 wines in the Frugal Bottle are:
• Social Red, a 2020 Argentinian red wine from Mendoza
• 2020 Chilean Sauvignon Blanc
• 2020 French Rosé
• Stash – a 2019 Syrah-based Chilean blend
All the wines are made with organic grapes, have no added sugar, are low in carbs and are vegan friendly.
You can buy the wines at signal7wines.com