In an increasingly environmentally conscious global context, the world of wine and spirits is also questioning how to innovate its production and distribution processes with an eco-friendly approach. Among the most promising solutions are paper bottles an innovation that combines environmental responsibility, functionality, and design.
A New Frontier of Wine Eco-Design
Paper bottles are mainly made from recycled cardboard, combined with a thin inner layer of food-grade material that ensures the integrity of the liquid inside. This combination maintains the product’s organoleptic properties while offering low-impact packaging.
Compared to traditional glass bottles, these new solutions allow for up to 85% reduction in CO₂ emissions and up to 75% reduction in water footprint, making them particularly attractive to wineries that care about sustainability and are responding to the evolving demands of increasingly conscious consumers.
Frugalpac: The Pioneer of Sustainable Packaging
The paper bottle revolution took shape thanks to the innovation of Frugalpac, a British company based in Ipswich that specializes in low-impact packaging. In 2020, Frugalpac launched the Frugal Bottle the first commercially available paper bottle for wine and spirits.
The project stands out for its functional design, which is fully recyclable and customizable, allowing producers to label their wines across the entire surface, turning the container into a true communication canvas.
Italy Responds: Cantina Goccia and the New Paper Bottle Line
The Italian wine scene has also embraced this innovation. In Umbria, Cantina Goccia was among the first to experiment with the Frugal Bottle, initially launching its red wine 3Q in this innovative format. Following a positive response, in 2023 the company expanded the offering with a full line—white, rosé, and red—under the Indicazione Geografica Tipica label, confirming its commitment to increasingly sustainable winemaking.
Mass Retail and Large-Scale Impact
Mass retail has given a further boost to the spread of paper bottles. On Global Recycling Day, March 18, British supermarket chain Aldi, in collaboration with Frugalpac, launched two wine SKUs packaged in own-brand paper bottles.
This initiative sends a strong signal to the entire sector: sustainability is no longer a niche option but a strategic direction capable of influencing the choices of large-scale retail and shaping consumer habits on a broad scale.
More Than Sustainable: Practical, Lightweight, Innovative
The benefits of paper bottles go beyond their reduced environmental impact. Their design allows for quicker chilling, making them especially suitable for immediate consumption particularly for fresh and young wines. Moreover, the light weight of the material facilitates transportation and storage, offering tangible benefits along the entire logistics chain.
The entire bottle surface is customizable, offering wineries an effective tool to convey their visual and brand identity, with 360-degree labels that catch the eye and communicate directly with the consumer.
Flexible and Scalable Production
From a production perspective, paper bottles also prove to be economically competitive: costs are comparable to those of labeled glass bottles, and the possibility of producing them on-site directly at the winery allows for unprecedented levels of customization and adaptability.
This production flexibility, combined with logistical agility, opens new opportunities especially for small and medium-sized wineries, who can more easily experiment with alternative formats.
A Look to the Future: Between Experimentation and Cultural Change
Although still an emerging technology, the transformative potential of paper bottles is clear. The wine sector is gradually opening up to solutions that combine innovation, sustainability, and quality, responding to the demands of a more informed and demanding market.
The success of pioneering initiatives both from wineries and mass retailers suggests we are witnessing the dawn of a profound cultural shift, one that will redefine not only packaging but the entire wine consumption experience.
