Diageo, the maker of Johnnie Walker Scotch Whisky, Don Julio Tequila and Guinness trialled paper-based packaging for Baileys, the Original Irish Cream Liqueur.
Diageo is trialling a Dry Molded Fiber 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 the consumer to separate the plastic liner from the paper bottle when disposing.
The 2,000-bottle trial with consumers was on the Baileys mini format (80ml) at the Time Out Festival in Barcelona, Spain, on May 25 and 26.
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 of the paper bottle.
When it comes to beverages, 68% of consumers want to buy more sustainably but only 12% do due to barriers including expense, lack of availability and confusion about what is on offer.
Diageo is working to close this ‘say-do’ gap for consumers by developing more sustainable and desirable products through innovation and marketing propositions to help consumers understand the sustainability credentials of the products, including the materials used.
Diageo is also looking at other packaging formats to address its sustainability goals.
It is trialling lightweighting its glass bottles using a coating developed by Exxergy.
Following a successful first stage, Diageo has invested in the second round of lab testing and will work with supply chain partners Ardagh and Dassualt Systemes to complete this.
In March, Diageo announced the trial of 30,000 bottles of Baileys in an aluminium format across selected airports in Europe (Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Frankfurt), with an anticipated 44% reduction in carbon versus the current glass bottle.
The trials of the new packaging formats support Diageo’s 10-year ESG action plan ‘Society 2030: Spirit of Progress’.
Diageo’s packaging contributes one third to its total Scope 3 carbon footprint and the innovative new options contribute towards reducing this.
