Phillip Schofield urges drinks brands to ‘commit to cardboard now’

At a reception in the House of Commons marking the second anniversary of the Frugal Bottle, the This Morning presenter toasted the success of the innovative packaging now used for everything from olive oil to vodka.

The evening, hosted by Ipswich MP Tom Hunt, celebrated the innovative packaging and the new 11,000 square foot Frugalpac factory located within his constituency. According to Frugalpac CEO Malcolm Waugh, the facility is on track to produce two million of the bottles this year.

Hunt opened with a reference to the current circumstances: “I have had a reasonably quiet day – it’s been a very dramatic week in Parliament!”

Beyond politics, Hunt celebrated the benefits the factory had brought to Ipswich before concluding: “I hope I’m still MP in eight years so I can celebrate the 10th anniversary.”

Waugh’s speech highlighted the environmental benefits of the product, with a particular focus on 84 percent of the bottle having previously been recycled, as well as the reduced emissions that come with manufacturing cardboard over glass. “Now you can drink responsibly and sustainably”, he quipped.

It was then the turn of the ITV presenter in the room to speak. No stranger to the world of wine, Schofield appeared at this year’s London Wine Fair to speak about the When in Rome range, which uses the Frugal bottle. He told attendees: “I’ve been a wine fan… since possibly before it was legal for me.”

Schofield cited soaring energy costs: “In the world we live in, where we increasingly look at things and think ‘sh*t, this is expensive’, it’s difficult to justify heating furnaces to recycle glass.” According to Frugalpac, producing its bottle uses a sixth of the carbon and a quarter of the water required to manufacture a glass one.

While Schofield declared that he was “under no illusions” about the Frugal bottle being used for fine wine in the near future, he expressed mild optimism: “…what a thing it would be if Bordeaux got on board.” He also noted that a number of restaurants had expressed interest in the bottles and their often eye-catching designs.

Frugalpac chairman Jeremy Young told db: “We have only been doing stability tests for a year or so…we haven’t had the chance to go and test it for fine wine yet!” At the moment, the aim is to appeal to the mass market. Young also suggested that the product was ideal for festivals, due to its lightness, sustainable production and ease of recycling.

It might be some time before we see a Frugal bottle with thicker cardboard designed to cope with the pressure of a sparkling wine, as Waugh told db: “One thing we’re not going do is make a paper bottle for the sake of making a paper bottle. It has to be sustainable.”

The question of whether consumers habits can change to pick cardboard over glass still lingers. Both Hunt and Waugh drew a parallel with the emergence of screw caps on the market as an example of a deviation from the norm becoming accepted in wine packaging.

Though how these products perform on the market remains to be seen, some merchants, such as Laithwaites, have committed to cardboard.