Broadland Drinks is today launching a ‘one stop shop to cut carbon’ by offering lightweight glass bottles, cans, bag in box, pouches, kegs and paper bottles to help wines and spirits brands and retailers cut their carbon footprint.

The UK-based wine and drinks brand owner, producer and filler, which was one of the first companies in the UK to install a Bag in Box filling line 45 years ago, is also offering advice to retailers and wholesalers on lower carbon wines and drinks and lower carbon packaging formats.

More than 1.1 billion litres of wine are consumed in the UK every year in the equivalent of approximately 1.5 billion glass bottles. Once production, transport and packaging are taken into account, each bottle of wine creates 1kg of CO2e. That means the annual carbon footprint for UK wine consumption is approximately 1.5 million tonnes of CO2e.

Broadland already fills BiB, lightweight glass bottles and aluminium cans and is now the UK’s largest filler of Frugalpac’s paper Frugal Bottle, which has a carbon footprint 84% lower than a standard glass bottle.
Every litre of imported wine switched from glass bottle to BiB would save approximately 0.6Kg CO2e. If all 1 billion litres of wine consumed in the UK were switched to BiB, it would see the equivalent of cutting 600m tonnes of CO2e annually.

The announcement was made at the International Bulk Wine and Spirits Show held in London on November 15.

Broadland Drinks’ facility in Cawston has reduced its fossil fuel usage at its operations over the last 5 years and is on-track to eliminate their use at the facility by 2025.

It has already invested in 1,000 500w solar panels to cover its winery roof leading to on-site generation of over a third of its electricity consumption with the rest of its power met be renewable energy. Broadland Drinks has also switched to LED lighting in office and production areas, completed the switching of its fleet of forklift trucks from gas to electric and introduced a successful cycle-to-work scheme for employees.
 
Last month Broadland Drinks announced a milestone partnership with Journey’s End and British sustainable packaging company Frugalpac to become the UK’s largest filler of the Frugal Bottle, which is made from 94% recycled paperboard, weighing just 83g with a food grade liner and is five times lighter than a glass bottle.

It will mean Broadland can offer mass volume Frugal Bottle filling to allow UK retailers and on-trade to stock even more paper bottles to help decarbonise the drinks industry supply chain. Interpunkt wines in collaboration with Journey’s End Vineyards have already won listings at All Bar One and Stonegate and Castle pub with the paper bottle, which are filled at Broadland Drinks.

Broadland Drinks CEO Mark Lansley, a chemical engineer with a personal interest in the science of reversing global warming, said in his speech to the International Bulk Wine and Spirits Show: “It’s clear the biggest factor in a bottle of wine’s carbon footprint is the bottle itself.

“A recent poll of nearly 2,500 wine merchants and producers by ProWein found 64% of UK traders plan to list Bag in Box and aluminium cans and 29% paper bottles in their stores in the next two years.
“This means there is a huge demand and a great opportunity for bulk wine producers to meet with lighter and lower carbon packaging formats.

“Reducing the Bulk Wine and Spirits supply chain’s carbon footprint is in our DNA and underpins every part of our service to our customers and our business. We felt the drinks industry needed greater support to help them transition to low carbon.

“A survey from McKinsey & Co found 66% of all respondents and 75% of millennials said they now consider sustainability when they make a purchase. Broadland Drinks are now offering that choice for retailers and drinks brands to meet this rising demand for alternative lower carbon formats.

“By becoming a one-stop shop to cut carbon, Broadland Drinks intends to offer the widest choice of lower carbon alternatives for retailers and brand owners to offer wine and drinks to consumers.

“We’re also offering advice to retailers and wholesalers on how they can switch to lower carbon wines and drinks, and lower carbon packaging formats.” 

Contact us sales@broadlanddrinks.com to find out how we can help you.