Mermaid Gin

Mermaid Gin plastic-free design / Source: The Isle of Wight Distillery

CorkEuropeFood & BeverageGlassHardwoodPackagingPaperViscose

6 MINUTE READ

Emma Grace Bailey

WHAT WE SAY:

Real change requires dedication, time and collaboration, something that the Isle of Wight Distillery had in spades when redesigning its iconic Mermaid Gin glass bottle. Verified Plastic-Free by A Plastic Planet in 2019, the bottle is the result of partnerships with myriad material innovators and everything from the cork to the paint is entirely plastic-free.

While the company is the first to admit this development took a considerate cost investment - the price of its swing tags increased fourfold - it is now reaping the rewards of its perseverance, with a 170% increase in sales, proving doing the right thing is also a business opportunity.

KEY FACTS:

Mermaid Gin from the Isle of Wight Distillery is a small batch, locally made gin consisting of just 10 ethically sourced botanicals. The company has been working steadily towards a more sustainable future over the last three years, beginning with the launch of its Plastic-Free bottle in 2019.
Taking one year to create, the bottle is made from recyclable Glass from Vetro Elite, which is sculpted into a tapered bottle shape with an embossed pattern resembling the scales of a fish - or a mermaid.
Every last detail has been considered. The gin is stoppered with a Cork and wooden stopper, sourced from Portugal. It is kept in place with a tamper-proof neck seal made by Viscose Closures that was a year in the making itself. Made from corn and potato starch, the seal composts in the food waste bin over six to twelve weeks and over 10 million of them have now been supplied to global spirit brands. The bottle’s neck label is made from recyclable paper and is adhered using a plastic-free glue from Daymark Labels. The logo is applied to the bottle using water-based, biodegradable paint.
The brand has redesigned its gift packaging too, removing the laminate from gift boxes so packs are simply cartons, certified by the Woodland Trust. It also replaced plastic packing peanuts with natural starch-based ones and secures its boxes with metal staples rather than plastic tape.
Additionally, the Isle of Wight Distillery has worked with its suppliers to reduce the amount of packaging used in the supply chain and reuse it where possible. The distillery’s cardboard is shredded and reused as bedding for local livestock.
The bottle can be easily recycled at the end of its life, but the company is working on a refill system to facilitate reuse, while also promoting the bottle’s upcycling potential through its social media.

Mermaid Pink Gin / Source: The Isle of Wight Distillery

The bottle was verified Plastic-Free in 2019 / Source: The Isle of Wight Distillery

DIVE DEEPER:

Spirit brands tend to use glass bottles - an infinitely recyclable material, with global recycling rates far and above that of plastic - but plastic is still prevalent in the industry. Everything from screw caps to swing tags, bottle seals and labels are either made entirely from plastic or feature plastic components. While its use might seem minimal in just one bottle, it is magnified beyond comprehension when you consider, for example, that leading gin brand Bombay Sapphire alone produces 60 million bottles per year.
Isle of Wight Distillery’s commitment to a fully plastic-free bottle design was not without its hurdles. One of these was finding the right people to design and manufacture the unique tapered bottle shape, something that ended up costing the company GBP 60,000 (USD 72,795) for the mould. It also struggled to get production time, often finding its runs were pushed back because they were smaller than other orders. Time was also added on because the bottle seals were originally applied by hand - something the company has since solved with heat sealable seals.
Cost has been a challenge throughout, with plastic-free variations of key components and design details costing far and above that of plastic-based options. The brand states that its new swing tags, which are cardboard, cost GBP 0.16 (USD 0.19) each, compared to its previous plastic-based swing tags that cost GBP 0.04 (USD 0.04) each. The new cork costs GBP 0.45 (USD 0.55), compared to the average cork price of GBP 0.20 (USD 0.24).
One unexpected hurdle was the mandatory alcohol duty sticker required to be applied to all bottles of alcohol in the UK by HMRC - the country’s tax department. At present, these labels are plastic and applied with a plastic glue, produced by HMRC. Plastic has been chosen for cost effectiveness and to ensure the labels do not peel off, but the Isle of Wight Distillery is pushing the department to redesign its label or allow brands to create their own.
Despite these challenges, the bottle has brought the distillery both awards and increased sales. In 2020 the Mermaid Gin bottle was awarded the ADI award for Best Eco-Packaging, while just six months after its relaunch it was crowned the winner of the 2019 International Wine and Spirit Competition. Sales spiked by 170% post-launch, according to the Telegraph.
The company has since added a Mermaid Pink Gin, a Salt Vodka and a limited edition Mermaid Zest Gin to the plastic-free range.
Future plans for the company include: eliminating plastic wrap on dispatched palettes; introducing energy efficient stills by 2025 and relaunching its HMS range in plastic-free packaging.

"...A commitment to being plastic-free and 100% recyclable doesn’t mean you have to compromise on style. Thanks to a brilliant team and our partners, we’ve managed to balance both."

Xavier Baker - Co-Founder, The Isle of Wight Distillery

Key Design Considerations:

Lightening the load

The company is in the process of lightweighting the Mermaid Gin bottle, reducing its environmental impact further and answering the often loud arguments that tout glass’s weight as a reason not to use it. When asked, the distillery was reducing the bottle’s weight from 750 grams to 650 grams, reducing the carbon footprint per 120,000 bottles from 75.87 grams of CO2 to 65.78 grams of CO2. Lightweighting does not have to make a bottle more fragile - decisions, such as shortening the neck, sloping a bottle’s shoulders and adopting an asymmetric design can all reduce the use of glass, and in turn the weight.

Open-source suppliers

The Isle of Wight Distillery is incredibly open about each and everyone of its suppliers, in the hope that other brands can more easily follow in its footsteps. It is also working on templates and tools for grant applications, the B Corp process and a carbon calculator, all of which it plans to make available to anyone who needs it. Secrecy has no place in our move towards a plastic-free future, especially with the speed at which we need to move. Consider how you can share your R&D efforts with others, without detracting from your brand identity.

Embed a refill state of mind

Mermaid Gin will soon be refillable for those customers that live on the island, but large scale refills have proved problematic. During the redesign phase, the distillery considered partnering with Loop - the in-store refillable packaging scheme that collects and washes brand packs, ready to be refilled. The cost was GBP 15,000 (USD 18,200) for cleaning and the creation of a turnstile for the bottle to go through. For an SME, the cost was too high. If you are in a similar position, consider tackling spirit refills from the hospitality angle - as demonstrated by Victory Gin.