A Growing Number Of Wine Producers Plan To Swap Glass Bottles For Paper Ones

Companies from every facet of the food industry are working towards a more sustainable approach. Frugalpac is a paper wine bottle maker that’s created an innovative alternative to traditional glass bottles. According to CBS News, the British company believes that their unique inventions, the Frugal Cup and the Frugal Bottle, can help decarbonize the drink industry.

Frugalpac’s product director JP Grogan said, “The overall carbon footprint is much, much lower on a paper bottle than it is on the equivalent glass bottle. We believe it’s up to six times lower.”

Weighing less than 3 ounces, the Frugalpac bottle is nearly five times lighter than glass — it also costs less to ship. The design of the bottle is collapsable, which means that large quantities can be stacked and shipped. The company has a machine specially made for inserting a plastic pouch into the Frugalpac bottle, which is then filled with wine. The company promises that the plastic doesn’t taint the taste, according to Grogan. 

“Some of our customers have tested with wine and we’ve tested with vodka. People have not been able to find the difference between our products and products that’ve been stored in a control glass bottle,” Grogan revealed to CBS News.

There is one caveat though, wine stored in a glass bottle has a longer shelf life – red wine can last up to 18 months, while white wine can be enjoyed for around a year. Frugalpac began expanding to the U.S. earlier this year. Monterey Wine Company, a California-based producer, was the first to use the paper bottles. The company purchased one of the assembly machines and now produces them in-house. 

Shannon Valladerez of the Monterey Wine Company said, “Our partnership with Frugalpac has allowed us to get behind the scenes of how this bottle is made and find U.S. producers for the [card]board and supply the materials right here from the U.S.” 

Giving partners the resources to produce the Frugalpac and allowing them to source the materials locally is an integral part to the company’s goal of reducing carbon footprint. Grogan underscores, “The whole idea is that we locate the machine close to the producers of the beverages and just limit the amount of movements. We put the machines in the different locations and allow them to source components from their own suppliers.”

According to the Wine Industry Advisor, there are now 32 producers using Frugalpac bottles, and the number is growing. The innovative technology isn’t only being used for wine either, it’s also being used for other spirits, and olive oil. Frugalpac is available in 22 countries across the globe.