NEW PAPER BOTTLE CO SEEKS PRINTER

The company that will produce the Frugalpac paper bottles for wines and spirits in Australia is looking for a printer to print and then die-cut onto the recycled paperboard that the innovative bottles are made from.

Print will be full-colour on a 94 per cent recycled paperboard, with die cutting. The company, Paper Bottles, is looking for a printer in the Melbourne area, which is where its warehouse is located.

Paper Bottles anticipates being in full production within 12 months, and says it will have the capacity to produce 2.5 million bottles a year.

Manufactured in the UK, the Frugal Bottle machine coming to Australia will be only the third such machine in the world, the first went into a Canadian print business, the second to a Californian vineyard.

The 750ml Frugalpac paper bottles are created in a three-stage process, the first of which is the printing and die-cutting of the cartonboard. Stage two sees the bottles constructed from the printed and cut flat board on the Frugalpac machine, with a 'goon bag' type container inserted for the drink, and stage three sees the bottle filled.

Paper Bottles is a subsidiary of Mother of Pearl Vodka, which will be using the Frugalpac bottles for its own product, and offering a service through Paper Bottles to other beverage producers. The bottles can handle wines, spirits and other non-carbonated drinks.

Nicola Thompson Hancock, director of Mother of Pearl Vodka said, “We are expecting a strong take-up of the Frugalpac bottles amongst Australian beverage producers. The response to Frugalpac in the UK has been large, in fact Aldi has just started using Frugalpac for its own brand wine.

“Beverage companies are excited about the paper bottles because they have a much lower carbon footprint than glass, they cost less to ship around, and they are safe, so they can be used around hotel pools, in stadiums, at festivals and the like.” Frugalpac claims its bottles are five times lighter and have a carbon footprint six times lower than glass bottles.

Mother of Pearl Vodka has already been using Frugalpac paperboard bottles for its products, but they have been created in the UK and shipped out here. The company will now on-shore the whole process.

Thompson Hancock said, “We will be offering an end-to-end service to Australian beverage producers, with print and die-cut, construction, and filling.”