Background

Whilst we have always had compliments on our label / packaging, it’s been our dream to develop our very own bottle. In the premium spirits market, 50% of sales are for gifting and as such, the vessel and packaging is paramount. Brands like Mermaid Gin have transformed their business by launching a new bottle.

Our new bottle. What was the brief?

  1. To better communicate brand proposition using our butterfly effect metaphor 
  2. To reinforce premium credentials – The Tesco buyer felt our liquid was so beautiful and premium and the bottle didn’t do it justice
  3. To improve shelf presence & back-bar standout
  4. To improve sustainability
  5. To mitigate against glass supply issues

How is it more sustainable?

If this was only about sustainability, we would have created a bottle using the minimum amount of glass possible. But this would only tick point 4 of the above.

Answering the brief

By launching our new taller art deco bottle embossed/debossed with butterfly wings into the glass , we are

  • inextricably linking the bottle to the brand,
  • clearly reinforcing our proposition,
  • Upping our premium credentials
  • and improving standout

Looking at all element of the bottle with a sustainability lense

Manufacturer:  We selected Stoelzle, based in Lancashire,  as our manufacturing partner for the bottle, based on their sustainability credentials. In our opinion they are leading the way in carbon reduction and water management.

Labels : Paper made from recycled apple pulp (with a lovely link there for our apple gin)

Closure : Wood topped and natural cork

Designed for a second life / infinite re-use

We focused on using as little glass as possible within the constraints of the design brief above. And our bottle is below average weight for a premium 70cl spirits bottle. But we wanted to do more than that.

With only 50% of glass containers currently recycled in the drinks industry and 200,000 tonnes of glass going to landfill each year*, we turned our attention to re-use and second use.

As instructed by a little poem hidden on the bottle somewhere (we won’t say where…), when you remove the One Gin label after use, the bottle functions as a beautiful water carafe and begins a new life. We have debossed ‘WATER’ into the front of the bottle further reinforcing our brand purpose around clean water projects. There is no spirits bottle more appropriate to use as a water carafe.

industry – 200,000 tonnes of glass go to landfill every year.* 

This is tapping into a growing trend. We know that both the trade and consumers are increasingly turning to tap / filtered water;  premium spirits bottles are increasingly reused in hospitality as water carafes and sales of carafes and jugs in John Lewis & Partners were up 25% year to Sept 2021

Refill pouches will also be available at thespiritofone.com should you want to keep re-filling with gin, not water !