Diageo, the maker of Johnnie Walker and Guinness, is to trial paper-based packaging for the first time, trialling it with its Baileys brand.
The move comes as consumers become more sustainability savvy, demanding more eco-friendly packaging. It follows Baileys also trialling aluminium bottles.
The company’s latest initiative is a 2,000-bottle trial, which is being carried out at the Time Out Festival in Barcelona, Spain, between 25 and 26 May.
It marks Diageo’s first consumer-facing trial with paper-based bottles that it is exploring across its portfolio.
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It also plans to trial the packaging across its Johnnie Walker and Don Papa brands.
The Baileys trial is being carried out in partnership with consulting firm PA Consulting and runs across its mini bottle format.
Diageo is trialling a Dry Molded Fiber bottle which is 90% paper, with a thin plastic liner and a foil seal.
The bottle is designed for recycling in standard paper streams and does not require the consumer to separate the plastic liner from the paper bottle when disposing.
Diageo said it will “test how the bottles travel from the filling site in Ireland, to Barcelona, along with how consumers interact with the material, and how they understand the sustainability credentials of the paper bottle”.
Ewan Andrew, president, global supply chain & procurement and chief sustainability officer, Diageo, said: “When it comes to our packaging, we’re taking an approach of progress over perfection, knowing our packaging will need to evolve along with consumer needs and technological advancements.
“The consumer is becoming more sustainability savvy and we believe we can meet that need using our design and innovation to bring premium products and more sustainable solutions together.”
