English winemaker sells wine in PAPER bottles

English winemaker starts selling its produce in PAPER bottles that are five times lighter than glass with carbon footprint that is 84 per cent lower

  • Specialist online retailer The English Wine has adopted the Frugal Bottle
  • A recyclable pouch sits inside the paper bottle to stop the wine seeping through
  • The Essex-based retailer hopes to scrap glass bottles entirely by 2026

An English winemaker has started selling its wares in paper bottles that have a carbon footprint 84 per cent lower than their glass counterparts. 

Specialist Essex-based online retailer The English Wine claims the bottle is the first of its kind for English wine. 

The Frugal Bottle, made by British sustainable packaging company Frugalpac, is five times lighter than the regular glass option, and is made in the United Kingdom from 94 per cent recycled paperboard.

A recyclable food grade pouch sits inside the paper bottle to prevent the wine from seeping through.

‘As winemakers, we have a responsibility to make positive steps towards more environmentally friendly methods of winemaking,’ founder Neil Walker said in a statement on the company’s website.

The retailer aims to scrap the use of glass bottles for its products by 2026.

An English winemaker has started selling its wares in paper bottles that have a carbon footprint 84 per cent lower than their glass counterparts

Specialist Essex-based online retailer The English Wine claims the bottle is the first of its kind for English wine

‘Packaging is a good place to start, as apart from in certain areas of winemaking where glass bottling is required, there is no reason not to make this change other than misplaced preconceptions about packing for wine,’ Walker said.

He said that consumers often associate non-glass packaged wines with a lower quality drink due to some ‘more mass-produced, lower quality wines’ opting for other forms of packaging.

‘However, we want to lead the way to show you that your wine will be just as enjoyable and high quality in a more environmentally friendly packaging, such as our new paper bottles,’ Walker said.

He cited a recent poll of 1,700 UK wine drinkers which found that 63 per cent of those asked would buy wine in a paper bottle.

The English Vine’s website states that it would challenge customers to spot any difference in the quality of its Number 1 white wine in the  paper bottle over that of the standard glass bottle version. 

The company sells a £68 comparison case featuring three of its Number 1 in glass bottles and three in the paper version.

‘Our aim is to be 100 per cent non-glass packaging over the next five years. We now need our customers to come along with us on this journey and help break down those preconceptions about non-glass packaging for wine,’ Walker said.

‘We’re hopeful that with an increasing number of people more aware about the carbon footprint of a glass bottle of wine, many will be supportive in this step forward. We’re proud to be leading the way in sustainability for wine packaging in the UK’.

The company is also planning to introduce a bottomless bottle service for Essex customers this summer, which will see refillable bottles topped up directly from kegs fitted to an electric wine van.

‘Think milk float, but with wine,’ Walker said. 

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