Denmark’s Skanvin filling When in Rome wine Frugal Bottles
Sustainable packaging company Frugalpac has unveiled a global network of fillers for wines and spirits for their revolutionary paper Frugal Bottle, to help drinks brands cut the carbon of their bottles by 84%.
The ‘Frugal Bottle Fill Good Collective’ is a growing list of 15 fillers in 12 countries around the world capable of filling the Frugal Bottle, the world’s first and only commercially available paper bottle for wines and spirits.
Launched in 2020, the Frugal Bottle is now used by 51 producers from around the world using it in 63 brands in 127 different SKUs of wines and spirits and have been on sale in retailers such as Aldi, Sainsburys, Morrisons as well as Whole Foods Market in the US and soon to be launched in Target supermarkets and 7-Eleven convenience stores across the States.
The Frugal Bottle, which is made from 94% recycled paperboard with a food grade pouch to hold the liquid, is five times lighter than a glass bottle and crucially uses six times less carbon and energy to produce and dispose.
It’s available in 25 countries including Australia, Japan, North America, Canada, the UK, across Europe, Scandinavia, and South Africa.
The ‘Frugal Bottle Fill Good Collective’ will allow drinks brands around the world find their nearest filler to either do a limited trial to test the market or place large orders.
Some of the co-packing filling lines for Frugal Bottles are in the US at Monterey Wine Company and Distillery 98, in Canada at KinsBrae Packaging, in the UK at Broadland Drinks in Norfolk, Brand Tap in Worcestershire, Hensol Castle Distillery in Wales and most recently Young Spirits in Scotland; in Spain at Bodegas Fernando Castro; in France at La Bouteille Qui Cartonne; while in Denmark Skanvin serves the Scandinavian market; in Italy the original paper bottle pioneers Cantina Goccia offer a dedicated filling service for wine producers, Kuppersbusch fills in Germany; ODB beverages and The Stillery in the Netherlands, and Encore Beverages offers a filling service in Australia.
The full collective of Frugal Bottle fillers so far is:
- Cantina Goccia, Italy
- Skanvin, Denmark
- Bodegas Fernando Castro, Spain
- La Bouteille Qui Cartonne, France
- Broadland Drinks, Norfolk, England
- Young Spirits, Edinburgh, Scotland
- Monterey Wine Company, California, USA
- Encore Beverages, Australia
- ODB beverages, the Netherlands
- The Stillery, the Netherlands
- Hensol Castle Distillery, Wales
- Brand Tap, Worcestershire, England
- KinsBrae Group, Ontario, Canada
- Distillery 98, Florida, USA
- Kueppersbusch Velbert, Germany
Frugalpac also aims to decarbonise the global drinks industry by selling its Frugal Bottle Assembly Machines (‘FBAM-1’) into local wine producing regions and has already sold three for export.
Each FBAM-1 can produce 2.5m paper bottles a year and offers a great opportunity to contract fillers and packaging companies to increase the value of their products and services.
Establishing local Frugal Bottle Production Hubs will cut carbon emissions even further by reduced transportation and the use of locally-sourced materials. This will also help to create jobs and ultimately, reduce costs to the industry.
KinsBrae Packaging in Canada bought the first machine to serve the Canadian and North American drinks markets and became operational in January 2024.
And in the US, a second Frugal Bottle Assembly Machine will start producing paper bottles in California’s Monterey Wine Company this month and Frugalpac have received a letter of intent to sell a machine to Australia for Mother of Pearl Vodka.
Frugalpac has signed a letter of intent with one of the largest value-added converter of packaging in South Asia, ITC Limited-Packaging and Printing Business, to bring paper Frugal Bottles to India in a ground-breaking collaboration to decarbonise the drinks industry.
Frugalpac’s new collaboration with ITC’s Packaging & Printing Business will see them promote and grow the demand for paper bottles in India with a view to eventually produce these low-carbon bottles in India.
Paula Kendall, Frugalpac’s Commercial Manager (pictured above) said: “It’s nearly five years since we launched the Frugal Bottle and our paper bottle continues to go global.
“But we wanted to make sure the growth was sustainable and that meant establishing a network of co-packing fillers around the world able to fill the Frugal Bottle.
“That’s why we launching the Frugal Bottle Fill Good Collective to help drinks brands make the move to more sustainable and lightweight bottles.
“Our aim is to ensure we reduce the carbon footprint of our Frugal Bottle even further by making the production and filling of bottles as close to possible to the drinks brands markets.”
Barbara Russell Scott, Managing Director of Young Spirits, the latest Frugal Bottle filler to join the Collective and the first in Scotland, said: “Part of the Young Spirits’ mission is to bring about genuine, positive change in the way spirits are packaged, using innovation and new technology.
“This is where our partnership with Frugalpac comes in. We are Scotland’s first and currently only partner for the Frugal Bottle packaging system, adding yet another ground-breaking, sustainable option at our growing bottling facility in Edinburgh.
“This low-carbon paper bottle is generating a huge amount of buzz across the industry, and we are excited to be pioneering yet another innovative bottling solution for our spirits clients.“
Skanvin Project Manager Christina Nørgaard, who fills wine in Frugal Bottles in Denmark for When in Rome, Arniston Bay and Volpi wines for the Nordic region said: “Skanvin was the first company in Northern Europe to offer the amazing Frugal Bottle to our wine clients in Denmark and across Scandinavia.
“Over 30 years we have championed environmental sustainability through eco-friendly business practices. We were particularly impressed by the sales of the first wine in a Frugal Bottle and the global demand for the paper bottles.
“The environmental agenda is highly prioritised by both consumers and retailers in all Nordic countries. That’s why offering the Frugal Bottle, which uses six times less carbon to produce than a glass bottle, seemed the perfect next step for us.
“Skanvin installed the 100% automatic filling machine at our site in the Spring of 2023 and joined forces with When in Rome and have filled Italian wine in Frugal bottles ever since. It has been a great journey working closely together with Frugalpac to secure the best solution for all aspects of the production process.
“We know sustainable packaging isn’t a flash in the pan. It’s what our customers now expect, and we’re excited to be to helping meet this global demand for paper bottles and playing our part in decarbonising the drinks industry.”