In good taste

13 February 2017



In good taste


In good taste

With the packaging industry focused on thinner, lighter and safer materials, glass often gets a bad reputation, but it can deliver on all of these things while offering an infinitely recyclable, luxury solution. Emma-Jane Batey speaks to a few industry leaders that are passionate to keep their products in glass.

Glass can convey luxury, decadence and quality like no other material. The only packaging material that can be infinitely recycled using no other raw materials, it is also an incredibly responsible choice. Glass is one of the oldest forms of packaging – archaeologists have found evidence of glass manufacture from as early as 1046BC – yet it is increasingly popular today, particularly for start-up brands looking for a quality differentiator.

 

 Sweet heritage

 

For Yardley London, one of Britain's oldest luxury fragrance and soap brands, glass is as much a part of its heritage as it is its future. Established in 1770 with its famous lavender scent packaged in etched glass bottles, Yardley London has recently relaunched some of its best-loved products with its range of Contemporary Classics.

Reformulated and repackaged, Contemporary Classics builds on Yardley's bestsellers, including English Lavender, English Rose and April Violets.

Quentin Higham, Yardley London's managing director, explains, “The Yardley London bottle design dates back to the 1920s and 1930s, when the brand employed a designer to create a bespoke bottle. Although small changes have been made to the bottle over the years, we have preferred to stay true to the original design and preserve the original shape as a mark of its rich British heritage.”

Higham continues, “Today's Yardley embodies our rich and wonderful heritage with pride. We continue to create exquisite luxury items for discerning customers the world over, carrying on a tradition and lineage that other perfumery houses can only aspire to.”

Increasingly gaining plaudits from the fragrance industry for its latest incarnations of long-loved scents, Yardley London received two accolades from the renowned Pure Beauty Awards 2016, with a Gold Win for its English Bluebell Fragrance and Highly Commended for the 1770 EDT for Men.

 

The natural choice

 

For artisan honey brand Hilltop Honey, glass was also the obvious choice to package its honey. Founded in 2011 by Scott Davies in Wales, Hilltop Honey has quickly grown to supply local delis, national supermarkets and Amazon with its raw honey that is “just how nature intends”.

Scott Davies tells Packaging Today, “We're passionate that our packaging reflects our brand; that's why we use glass jars and have just changed our squeezy bottles to PET1. This means that all our packaging is easily recyclable; we keep a closed loop so that all orders that are received directly are sent out in recycled boxes with biodegradable peanuts for protection.”

Hilltop Honey, whose range includes Raw Organic Acacia Honey and Raw Organic Multiflower Honey in 350g glass jars, is now available across the UK in branches of Tesco, Sainsbury's and the Co-Operative. The fast-growing company is on course for an impressive 200% growth in 2017.

“Our glass jars are very much a part of the Hilltop Honey aesthetic,” Davies continues. “Our organic honey suppliers are hand-picked and their honey is rigorously tested to ensure that it is organic. You can definitely taste the difference with organic honey, which is in great demand from supermarkets because of customers who are going back to basics with the food they consume.

“They want good, natural products and want to eat honey in its rawest form. There is huge demand for organic honey, comb honey and bee pollen, which is very nutritious. We are constantly looking for new suppliers that are able to satisfy our strict quality-control tests and guarantee a reliable supply.”

 

Traditional and innovative

The British Glass Manufacturers Confederation certainly agrees that glass is the packaging material that “nature intends”. Instrumental in promoting glass as a first-choice material, British Glass is as focused on the most innovative performance elements of glass as its long-term advantages.

As the UK glass industry's focal point, British Glass plays the principal role in highlighting the concerns and aspirations of its members to the UK Government, the EU, and various external interest groups and trade bodies.

“We are very involved in the circular-economy debate and we know that glass has a very positive position in this,” says Rebecca Cocking, British Glass's head of container affairs. “Glass is a permanent material and it's very local, cheap and plentiful. Glass is also terrific in terms of longevity – there is enough glass in the UK waste stream to supply UK manufacturers with what they need, so it can all be produced in the UK and be transported environmentally and economically. So that's a pretty impressive start.

“This means that glass in the UK is not really affected by global trading issues, which makes it very appealing considering the turbulence caused by Brexit and oil prices. We don't need to import glass into the UK. Sustainability and environmental issues are also positive considerations for glass; you can take one glass bottle, crush it and make the same bottle again – there are no issues of additional raw materials.”

With the lightweighting taking focus across much of the packaging industry, glass’s reputation as a heavy material might be considered a disadvantage, but it can also be a positive selling point.

“Rather than focus on light weight, we look at the right weight,” says Cocking. “So, across the broad range of sectors that use glass containers, we focus on what is the right weight for the product. For example, a £50 bottle of whiskey cannot really be sold in a lightweight bottle – it needs that heft to convey its value – whereas a niche real ale brand might want to promote its eco-credentials with a lighter bottle.”

The environmental elements of glass as a packaging material are also high on the British Glass agenda. Heavily involved in the UK Government's 'decarbonisation road map' that is tied to EU plans for complete decarbonisation of glass by 2050, British Glass is working together with the organisations involved to look at future technology for the glass industry to make this possible.

“Packaging has long focused on convenience for consumers, with environmental elements a secondary concern, but glass actually offers a long shelf life for a range of products,” says Cocking. “A bottle of wine was found at the bottom of the Baltic Sea recently, having been there for hundreds of years, and a sommelier said it was as good as the day it was bottled. Preserves, jams and cooking sauces have at least an 18-month shelf life in glass, so glass can offer that life protection that other materials can't.

“Of course, from a marketing perspective, products aren't always wanted on the shelves for that long, but it's a wonderful way for artisan and luxury brands to present their products. If you look at the Coca-Cola Instagram feed, for instance, it's all about the iconic glass bottle, as people know it looks cool and tastes better – but, in reality, the supermarkets are piled high with plastic bottles. It's exciting to think that glass is known as ‘better’, and hopefully we're catching up with that retail disconnect.”

 

A natural premium

 

Head of marketing for fast-growing cold-pressed oil brand Yorkshire Rapeseed Oil, Jennie Palmer is dedicated to using glass bottles. Reflecting the British Glass view that packaging a 'natural, delicious, chemical-free product' in glass is a perfect marriage, Palmer tells Packaging Today how this choice has helped to build the brand.

“There are a number of reasons we use glass,” Palmer says. “I believe the environmental impact is better with glass as, when we started, glass was more readily recyclable. However, the main decider for us was its premium look. Our products are artisan and small batch, and the range of glass wear that we use helps translate that on the shelf. Glass wear also allows us a greater variety of styles and options.

“We try to source our packaging as locally as possible, and use British suppliers, although some of our glass wear is European. Our packaging needs to offer a premium look, caps and things need to be good quality and have a high finish. Design and style come quite high up in what we choose, too. Everything we use needs to be food-grade products, keeping the packaged product protected.”

 

 



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