DIAGEO has revealed plans to trial paper-based packaging for Baileys, the Original Irish Cream Liqueur.
In partnership with PA Consulting, as part of the Bottle Collective with PA and PulPac, Diageo is trialling a dry moulded fibre bottle which is 90% paper, with a thin plastic liner and a foil seal.
The bottle is designed for recycling in standard paper streams and does not require consumers to separate the plastic liner from the paper bottle when disposing. The 2,000-bottle trial will be on Baileys, the Original Irish Cream Liqueur, mini format (80ml) at Time Out Festival in Barcelona later this week.
This is Diageo’s first consumer facing trial with paper-based bottles and will test how the bottles travel from the filling site in Ireland, to Barcelona, along with how consumers interact with the material, and how they understand the sustainability credentials.
Ewan Andrew, president, global supply chain & procurement and chief sustainability officer at Diageo, said, “When it comes to our packaging, we’re taking an approach of progress over perfection, knowing our packaging will need to evolve along with consumer needs and technological advancements. The consumer is becoming more sustainability savvy and we believe we can meet that need using our design and innovation to bring premium products and more sustainable solutions together.”
Jamie Stone, design and innovation expert at PA, added, “We are delighted that the Diageo Baileys Minis are now hitting the consumer market. Dry moulded fibre bottles are a huge step forward, setting new standards in the world of more sustainable packaging. But this is only the beginning. PulPac’s dry moulded fibre technology has immense potential: not only is it water-saving, energy-efficient and recyclable, but it is also viable at commercial manufacturing speeds and scale.
“Working with Diageo and other organisations through our Bottle and Blister Pack Collectives has enabled us to pool resources and dramatically accelerate the time to market for this important innovation.”
Diageo is exploring paper formats across its wider portfolio. The company is a member of the Pulpex consortium and continues to develop and internally test its concept Johnnie Walker paper-based bottle, which is still in development phase, along with other paper-based bottle concepts.
The company is also developing a Diageo-designed, spiral-wound paper-based bottle with Don Papa, the Filipino rum brand. The bottle is in feasibility testing and expected to be 90% paper-based. The bottle is designed to remove the cardboard gift box around the bottle to give the illusion of a gift box which is in fact the whole bottle.
This follows Diageo’s announcement in 2022 to start a programme to remove the cardboard gift boxes in its premium scotch portfolio to reduce excess packaging and is being rolled out in a phased approach over the coming years.
