Reusable kegs that pipe spirits to a dispensing unit are being trialled in seven bars for six weeks by Diageo using its Smirnoff vodka brand.
The new system, called ‘Everpour’ and developed with design consultancy Hodges and Drake, will be available at selected bars in and around Dublin, Ireland. Participating sites in the trial will use stainless-steel kegs in 5 or 17.5 litre sizes of Smirnoff vodka.
Refill happens automatically when the bottle of spirits is placed in the unit. Once the keg is empty, it is collected, cleaned and refilled by Diageo before being re-distributed to participating bars.
Diageo says units will be collected for recycling at end of life but had no further details on exactly how. “Recyclability assessments are planned post the limited trial and to be confirmed prior to scale,” the drinks company said.
Each keg is anticipated to reduce the use of a “minimum of 500 single-use 70cl glass bottles”, cutting emissions by “more than 50%” per litre of the vodka. Additional details were not available but further life cycle assessments are expected once the system is ready for scale up.
Diageo has been introducing a number of packaging innovations across some of its most prominent brands and markets as part of its ESG action plan, Spirit of Progress. This includes the continued and longer-term rollout of reusable solution ecoSPIRITS, involving large glass ecoTote containers that function much like a keg. There are also trials for Baileys and Johnnie Walker using single-use paper-based bottles, which also promise reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
The trials, albeit limited in some cases, allow brands to assess how drinkers and on-trade businesses react to the changes in packaging formats.
Pernod Ricard also recently announced a reusable packaging scheme for delivery of gin, vodka and rum to hospitality venues globally which it says will save considerable amounts of carbon emissions and reduce glass waste.
The likes of Diageo and Pernod have identified packaging as key to reducing their carbon emissions in line with 1.5C of global heating. Decreasing bottle weight, augmenting recycled content, innovating and exploring new materials and developing closed-loop distribution models, will all play a part in cutting their scope 3 emissions.
