If you’ve checked out the wine section in your local Aldi recently, you may have noticed a paper wine bottle on the shelf. Paula Kendall, Commercial Manager for Frugal Bottles at Frugalpac based in Ipswich, explains how the sustainable packaging company has come a long way since its inception in a shed
How long have you been in the role of Commercial Manager at Frugal Bottles and what does it involve?
I’m into my fourth year working here now (which has flown by). My role is to help our customers to smoothly integrate Frugal Bottles – the world’s first and only commercially available paper bottle for wine and spirits – into their existing supply lines from start to finish. Our customers are predominately drinks-based businesses ranging from independent vineyards through to large brands like Greenall’s Gin.
For those not in the know, what is the background to Frugalpac and whereabouts is the business based?
We’re based in Ipswich on Crane Boulevard in an 11,000sq foot site and the company has come a long way since its inception in a shed. Our first product was the Frugal Cup, the world’s only recyclable beverage and food cup made of 96% recycled paper. It was developed in response to the debate on the difficulty of recycling single-use coffee cups, which are all made from virgin paper. It’s the only coffee cup that can be recycled through standard recycling facilities across the UK. Building on that success came the Frugal Bottle. It’s made from 94% recycled paperboard with an easily separable food grade pouch, like those in bag in box wines. We launched the Frugal Bottle in 2020 with an Italian winery as our partner. The launch sparked huge interest and generated headlines globally and led to one chain, Woodwinters in Scotland, selling its whole stock in just one day. The feedback from industry and consumers was so overwhelmingly positive that it prompted Cantina Goccia to commit to transitioning 80% of its wine production to paper bottles. Nearly four years on, there are more than 45 brands currently using our bottles with over 130 different SKUs, available in 25 countries around the world, including Canada, Japan, Australia, South Africa, the US, Scandinavia and many other European countries.
What is the Frugalpac sustainability mission?
Frugalpac’s mission is to reduce the impact of carbon on the planet through engineering sustainable packaging, using recycled paper, that’s easy to recycle again. We aim to decarbonise the global drinks industry by selling our Frugal Bottle Assembly Machines (‘FBAM-1’) into local wine producing regions. Each machine is capable of producing 2.5m bottles per year. By placing FBAM-1s at the heart of bottling plants, co-packers or packaging companies around the world, Frugal Bottles can be produced locally, reducing carbon miles even further and making our packaging even more sustainable. Our first machine outside the UK is now operational in Canada with packaging firm KinsBrae Packaging which is producing bottles for the North American market. A second FBAM-1 is on its way to California’s Monterey Wine Company, which will be the first contract packer in the world to offer both Frugal Bottle manufacture and filling of wines and spirits in the Frugal Bottle. Last month, we were delighted to receive confirmation from Australian drinks producer Mother of Pearl Vodka that they will be buying an FBAM-1 to help decarbonise the Australian and Southeast Asian drinks market.
What are the bottles made out of?
Frugal Bottles are made from 94% recycled paperboard with an easily separable food grade pouch within, like bag in box wines but in the shape of a Bordeaux bottle.
Any other products in the range, apart from the bottles?
We’re constantly developing and innovating our ideas to find solutions for more fast-moving consumer goods that are impacting the planet. Our current focus is on refining and speeding up our machine platforms, so we can get more carbon-cutting bottles out into the world.
What is the latest development with Aldi UK? Who else is using Frugalpac bottles – and for packaging what?
We’re delighted to be working with Aldi UK, the first UK supermarket to bottle its own wines in our Frugal Bottles. They launched two Cambalala South African wines a Sauvignon Blanc and Shiraz in their UK stores last month on Global Recycling Day. For us it’s an incredibly exciting time as our bottles are giving wine consumers a greener packaging option and we’re also helping major retailers to be more sustainable. Sainsbury’s was the first supermarket in the UK to listing The Greener Greenall’s Original London Dry Gin in Frugal Bottles in 2022. That was soon followed by When In Rome’s award-winning craft Italian wines in Frugal Bottles in Spring 2023, which are also available through Ocado. Elsewhere in the UK, you can find various other brands using Frugal Bottles such as Wildjac Distillery for their flavoured rums, Avallen Spirits planet-positive calvados, World of Zing and Bottle Proof Cocktails, which both create ready to drink cocktails and Welsh brand Flawless Vodka with its flavoured vodkas and recently launched Welsh gin made from spent coffee grounds by Grounds For Good. You’ll also find Frugal Bottles with Interpunkt wines in All Bar One, Castle and Stonegate pubs, Cantina Goccia’s Italian paper wine bottles at Royal Philharmonic Liverpool and When In Rome wines at many sporting venues, including most recently at the Grand National, where14,000 bottles were sold. Frugal Bottles are shatterproof and light, which makes them ideal for outdoor events. Last year, we even produced a commemorative bottle which we were honoured to present to Queen Camilla in Bordeaux at a Franco-British trade event to mark the King and Queen’s visit. The commemorative “Cardbordeaux 2023” bottle included the King’s Cypher and the Bordeaux crest on the front and on the back has a message in French to the King and Queen.
Any plans you can share?
There’s big news now in the US. Frugal Bottles are going on sale in Whole Foods stores. This is the first American supermarket chain to stock our bottles with wine by Californian producer Bonny Doon Vineyard, which is highly significant for us. There are so many other plans in the pipeline, so watch this space for our next news!
Is the future Frugal, in your opinion?
When you consider that 90% of the world’s wine is consumed in less than a year, then there’s just no need to put wine in heavy, carbon intensive glass bottles. Glass bottles account for around 40% of wine’s carbon footprint, so switching to more sustainable lighter packaging is a no-brainer. We’re already beginning to see more sustainable lighter packaging on shelves from aluminium cans to bag in box and even bag out of box. Frugal Bottles present an exciting opportunity for brands to cut carbon by 84%, and for retailers to be more sustainable. For us as consumers, it’s an easy switch we can make that has a lighter impact on the planet.
Visit Frugalpac.
Featured images – supplied
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