DIAGEO has announced the trial of Everpour, a new keg and integrated bottle dispense system, initially with vodka brand Smirnoff at selected bars in and around Dublin.
The trial is the latest sustainability initiative announced as part of a wider drive across the business to reduce the carbon emissions of its key brands.
Diageo explained the development of Everpour has been led by the firm’s breakthrough innovation team in partnership with Hodges & Drake, and features reusable kegs which pipe spirits to a dispensing unit. There are four dispensing options to best suit the bar environment.
The technology automatically refills the bottle once it is placed in the Everpour unit, and once the keg is empty, it is collected, cleaned and refilled by Diageo before being re-distributed to participating bars.
Participating sites in the trial will use stainless-steel kegs in 5 or 17.5-litre sizes of Smirnoff vodka. Diageo added that the expected benefits of Everpour include:
- Each keg is anticipated to reduce the use of a minimum of 500 single-use 70cl glass bottles.
- A potential reduction in carbon emissions by more than 50% per litre of Smirnoff.
- Reducing the time needed to switch out and dispose of empty bottles.
- Minimising the storage space needed for Smirnoff bottles.
Stephanie Jacoby, global vodka senior VP at Diageo, said, “We’re really excited that Smirnoff is the leading brand on Everpour as we know how important it is to combine convenience for our bartenders and sustainability for our company. We continually push the boundaries of what’s traditional in the drinks trade and look forward to learning more about circularity through this exciting trial.”
The Everpour trial will partner with seven outlets and will run for six weeks. The trial will assess technical feasibility of the Everpour system whilst gathering customer and consumer feedback.
