Lightweight wine packaging developed in South Australia

Endeavour Group’s wine-bottling and packaging arm Vinpac International and sustainable packaging solutions provider Orora have collaborated to develop a wine bottle in South Australia that can help producers reduce packaging and emissions.

The lightweight Reverse Taper bottle weighs 420 g — which is 195 g less than a standard Reverse Taper bottle, equating to an 18% reduction in emissions. In addition, bottles from the Orora Gawler facility where this bottle is produced had a recycled glass content of approximately 38% over the 2022 financial year.

The bottle is designed to be wider at the shoulders than at the base to provide a premium option for the wine industry.

“Historically, heavier glass and deeper punt have been used for premium wines so when developing this new option, it was important to keep the same look and feel for that premium touch,” explained Orora Glass National Account Manager Chris Blanchard.

Endeavour Group’s products and services arm Pinnacle Drinks will be making the switch to the new bottle with several wine ranges, including La Poco Tempranillo and Grenache, Old Fat Unicorn Tempranillo and Cat Amongst the Pigeons Tawny.

“We are excited to be among the first to market to use this new sustainable bottle. Moving to this new Reverse Taper lightweight bottle will help us decrease our carbon footprint even further and will provide significant environmental benefits and cost savings,” said Pinnacle Drinks Director Paul Walton.

The bottles are manufactured at Orora’s facility in Gawler, South Australia, and are available to wine producers from Vinpac International.

“We are excited to be able to offer significant environmental benefits and cost savings for our customers with this new, innovative lightweight bottle,” said Vinpac International Commercial Manager James Vallance.

Last year, Vinpac and Orora also partnered together on a lightweight 750mL sparkling bottle.