The drinks industry has made major inroads in terms of the lightweighting of packaging in recent years, with wine producers particularly keen on switching to lighter options. With this in mind, Australian family winery Brown Brothers have introduced lighter weight bottles on three wines within its core range. Weight has been trimmed from the walls of the bottle, which has seen the diameter decrease by 2mm and the overall weight of each full bottle drop from 1.24kg to 1.11kg. This 10% reduction per bottle will reduce Brown Brothers' glass packaging in the UK by 192 tonnes, leading to an annual reduction in the winery's carbon footprint of 144 tonnes. "These three best-selling wines are the first to move into the lighter packaging. However, ultimately, we are looking to do this for our entire portfolio of wines in the UK, as we forge ahead with our environmental responsibilities - and, it is important to note that the initiative hasn't meant compromising on quality," said EU sales & marketing manger, Gail Gilbert.
