Design, function, safety and sustainability: PET wine bottles

When Outsider Cellars’ founder Jack Flynn discovered Amcor’s plastic wine bottles, it was a pivotal moment for his fledgling company. “The Amcor bottles were a breakthrough for my company because they can be carried anywhere without being a liability.”

Founded in 2017, Outsider Cellars’ “Anywhere. Anytime” slogan captures the brand’s vision. Its shatterproof bottles of cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay and rosé are designed to be consumed anywhere, anytime, in addition to traditional wine-drinking settings such as at home or in restaurants.

Jack says that with wine in plastic bottles, Outsider Cellars is “going after the outdoor market – people going to a concert in the park or an amphitheatre, or off on multi-day hikes or boating, or just spending an afternoon by the pool.”

The desire to create a range of wines suited to outdoor arenas came directly from Jack’s own experience. Sitting by a campfire in Oregon’s Crater Lake National Park, he noticed broken wine bottles in the fire pit. Looking at his own glass bottle, he wondered how this could be avoided: “It was kind of an ‘a-ha moment’. I realized that if I could find a 750ml bottle made from plastic instead of glass that I could take anywhere then this wouldn’t be happening. It snowballed from there.”

A couple of years later, this is what Jack has achieved with Outsider Cellars: “A wine label that allows people to drink wine anywhere.”

No liability: plastic is a safe choice

Safety is a major factor in Jack’s decision to use plastic bottles for Outsider Cellars. Unlike glass, polyethylene terephthalate (or PET, a rigid plastic) is virtually unbreakable, and even when crushed doesn’t have any sharp edges.

These qualities make PET plastic ideal packaging and not just for Outsider Cellars but for the increasing food and beverage products intended to be consumed on the go. Launches of this type of packaging have more than doubled globally between 2011 and 2016, reports New Food Magazine.

As it is shatter resistant, PET packaging is also ideal for enabling wine drinkers to enjoy wine in arenas where glass is prohibited. Jack has noticed this when talking to people who run music festivals and outdoor venues.

Design and aesthetics

As Jack’s comment reveals, the safety factor alone isn’t enough to make it such a popular choice. Aesthetics and design are important, too. For him, the ritual of how wine is consumed is important even for non-connoisseurs: “I think a big thing with enjoying wine as opposed to, say, drinking a cocktail or a beer out of a red solo cup or a can is the experience. The aesthetic part of drinking wine is so important, everything from the bottle that contains the wine to the fact that you drink wine from certain types of cups is important for the consumer.”

He continues: “I don’t want to drink wine from an aluminium can. And I don’t want to drink wine that has been poured out of an aluminium can into a glass, either. It’s the same thing with cartons.”

Jack admits that as he is from a design background, aesthetics is important to him. And the American public shares his view - according to research by the Wine Market Council, the majority of wine is sold in bottles, with 53% in 750ml bottles. In contrast, 87% of wine drinkers have never purchased wine packaged in a can or pouch.

From a visual perspective, PET wine bottles are barely distinguishable from glass. Jack reports that “from a distance, people can’t tell that my bottle is plastic. The only thing that gives it away is that it has a slimmer profile.”

The similarity of PET to glass bottles means that “my bottle will blend in beautifully with every single glass bottle on shelves in liquor and grocery stores, rather than being tucked away in the alternative packaging section” says Jack.

Function and practicality

Jack explains that most consumers browsing the aisles of liquor and grocery stores buy wine to drink immediately, keeping the bottle for no more than a month before consuming it. Of course, there are dedicated wine enthusiasts who lay down their purchases for years, but they are a minority.

As a result, customer concerns about the shelf life of wine in a plastic bottle compared with a glass one can be put to rest. Wine stored in PET bottles is fine for one year, which, as Jack says, “is more than long enough.”

This shelf life also means that the wine doesn’t require a cork, so customers have the advantage of an easily opened screw-cap. No additional equipment is needed to open the bottle, which is again part of Outsider Cellar’s mission of “trying to make it as user-friendly as possible,” particularly for those consuming wine while hiking or enjoying the great outdoors.

Customers occasionally ask whether using PET bottles affects the taste of the wine – Jack reassures that it does not and demonstrates this by offering a sample of wine to try. The response? “People are pleasantly surprised…they’re like, ‘You know, this tastes great!’”

Recyclability and sustainability

For Jack, it wasn’t enough for Outsider Cellars wine to taste good - it had to be good for the planet, too. It’s central to the brand’s philosophy that customers should be encouraged “to use the bottle over and over, meaning that they can drink and enjoy the wine and then not necessarily have to throw it away.”

This philosophy of reuse is currently being tested by Jack’s friend, an avid mountain biker who has used the same bottle for more than a year. “He’s used this bottle numerous times and it looks trashed but he says he’ll carry on using it until it cannot hold wine anymore.”

And when it isn’t holding wine anymore? These plastic bottles are fully recyclable. 94% of Americans have access to a PET recycling program through their municipal recycling scheme. Furthermore, the closure on the bottles is plastic which does not impact the recycling stream.

This was another part of the appeal of these bottles for Jack: “With the Amcor bottles that I’m using, both colored and clear are recyclable and that’s another huge element for me.” He also values the savings that come with shipping bottles that are lighter than those made of glass, noting that “A case of my Amcor bottles versus a traditional case of twelve glass bottles is less than half [the weight]. So you’re going to have huge savings on that end of it and it also means reduced environmental impact and greenhouse gas emissions.”