Frugalpac has secured its first customer for the Frugal Bottle Assembly Machine. The FBAM 1 is the only commercially available machine that produces wine, spirts and olive oil bottles made completely from recycled paper. The machine can produce more than 2.5 million Frugal bottles a year.
The first buyer will Canadian company KinsBrae Packaging. Based in Cambridge, Ontario, the company will aim to meet demand in Canada and the US out of the 120 million Frugal Bottles enquiries received by Frugalpac globally.
Already making progress, Canada is stocking wine in the Frugal Bottle through its LCBO stores across Ontario. The 3Q by award winning Italian winery Cantina Goccia has received generous reviews with Ontarian wine drinkers who want to sip more sustainably.
Frugalpac says over 25 different drinks producers from across the globe have launched wines, spirits, and olive oils in the Frugal bottle. The interest comes down to the composition, with the bottles made from 94% recycled paperboard, using 84% less carbon than glass and being five times lighter than a glass bottle.
Frugalpac chief executive Malcolm Waugh, says: “We’re thrilled to be selling our first Frugal Bottle Assembly Machine platform to KinsBrae Packaging. Whilst we currently produce Frugal Bottles in Ipswich, this partnership will allow us to have a mainland presence in North America, reducing the carbon footprint of our bottles even further.”
Waugh adds: “It is clear consumers are keen on more sustainable forms of packaging and this is a great opportunity for packaging companies, bottlers and the print industry.
“We currently have a further 87 companies keen to acquire a Frugal Bottle Assembly Machine. Our aim is to place these paper bottle machines at the heart of a bottling plant, co-packers, or local packaging companies so we can reduce the carbon footprint of our sustainable packaging even further and have Frugal Bottle hubs around the world.”
Other users of the Frugal bottles include The English Vine’s No1 white wine, Signal 7 wines in the US, and Spain’s Planet B by Bodegas Murviedro, with future releases including Half Shell Vodka by Florida’s Distillery 98.
Shawn Bonnick, KinsBrae Packaging’s president and chief executive, says: “KinsBrae Packaging is proud to be the first packaging company in the world to acquire a Frugal Bottle Assembly Machine to supply Frugal Bottles to the growing wine and spirits businesses in Canada. Our company knows that sustainable packaging isn’t a flash in the pan. It’s what our customers now expect.
“We already produce and supplying sustainable packaging with our Eco Six Pack Rings for cans and cans for wine, and we are really excited to be able to offer the world’s first commercially available paper bottle to our existing and new clients.”