Banrock Station Eco Bottle wins Beverage Packaging Design of the Year

Accolade Wines’ Banrock Station PET flat eco bottle topped the category at the Beverage Packaging Design of the Year awards, winning Gold.

The Beverage Packaging Design of the Year award recognises organisations that have designed innovative packaging and/or materials within packaging and processing for liquid or dry tea, coffee, water, and soft drinks, including wine, beer, and spirits.

The Banrock Station bottle shape takes a clever cross-sectional design of a traditional Bordeaux wine bottle face on, but it is flat when turned on its side. This innovative change in form allows the same volume of wine (750ml) to be packed into a bottle that is 30 percent more spatially efficient than its round, glass predecessor, plus it is more efficient for stacking and transporting.

Banrock Station’s eco wine bottle is taller than round glass wine bottles when placed side-by-side. The bottle also has a long neck and, with its flat attributes, really stands out on retail shelves.

The eco bottles are made by Packamama from 100 percent recycled PET (which is sourced in Australia), making them 84 percent lighter than the average Australian round glass bottle plus, the bottles use an active oxygen scavenger barrier technology to offer advanced shelf-life performance (19 to 21 months based on real-time and modeled data) over PET with no barrier.

Another huge benefit is the design offers significant lightweighting - the new pack is 63g per bottle, 84 percent lighter than the average 400g glass bottle.

It also offers spatial efficiency as the bottle flat packs like books which means wine companies can fit up to 50 percent more wine on an Australian pallet (1152 vs 768 round glass bottles). A design feature that drastically reduces freight costs and transport-related CO2 emissions.

The packaging production itself reduces energy and emissions - virgin PET outperforms glass by producing 77 percent less GHG emissions and using 59 percent less energy to produce.

A spokesperson from Accolade Wines said, “We are thrilled to have taken home the top award at the PIDA 2023 Beverage Packaging Design of the Year, winning Gold for our Banrock Station Eco Bottle.

“Thank you, Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP), for this award, and thank you, Packamama, for your ongoing collaboration. We hope to continue to make strides driving sustainable packaging solutions in our ambition to be the most innovative wine company.”

Co-host of the 2023 PIDA awards, PKN managing editor & publisher Lindy Hughson said, "Next to food, the beverage category has to be one of the most visibly creative in its presentation of packaging design, both in labels and primary containers, again with a strong focus on sustainability."

"The designs moving successfully from shelf to trolley are those combining sustainability with functionality, visual appeal, clear on-pack messaging, and smart packaging utility - thus engaging consumers in a crowded category where there is a veritable proliferation of new products, both in the alcoholic and non-alcoholic sector.

"The ground has certainly shifted for beverage bottlers in terms of consumer pushback on single-use plastic, leading to a strong drive toward the use of post-consumer recycled plastic, a growing uptake of aluminium, and innovation in paper-based containers."

The Bronze winner was Wine Protector by Planet Protector Packaging, while the Silver winner was Penley Sustainability Range by Cutler Brands.