Bottles: both strong and fragile

Bottles are by nature both strong and fragile. Strong, because glass is robust as long as it is not knocked, and it is a neutral material, ideal for keeping wine or mead. Fragile, because during transport, which is not always handled with care, they can break under a sharp impact.

From polystyrene to corn starch

For a long time we used polystyrene packing chips, described as recyclable by their manufacturers. But they are made from a petroleum derivative: environmentally, this was really not ideal.

We then tried corn starch packing chips, far more recyclable and from healthier supply chains. Unfortunately, as well as costing more, they proved much less effective, and there were a few unfortunate breakages.

Our solution: boxes collected close to home

We finally found a safe, environmentally friendly and economical solution: we use boxes from shops located less than a kilometre from us. These shops receive many products in parcels, and used to take their boxes to the recycling centre!

We now collect these boxes for our packaging, adding a little paper when needed.

90% reused packaging

The result: 90% of the packaging comes from reused materials. This is not even recycling, since the boxes are reused as they are. Only the outer box and the tape are new… and not always: once the shipping label is removed, some of the boxes we collect are practically as good as new!

Our packaging looks less "professional" than that of the big e-commerce players, but it is perfectly suited to the job. Nor do we use the special boxes for 1, 3, 6 or 12 bottles, which are extremely expensive.

Our boxes in pictures

6-bottle box

3-bottle box