Bottled up

UK-based Gunna Drinks’ anti-plastic campaign continues with the launch of what it is claiming as the UK’s first range of aluminium bottled soft drinks.

The range begins with three immune-boosting lemonades with added vitamin C and zinc. The drinks will come in 500ml bottle format (compared to its usual 330ml can).

The UK soft drinks brand has the aim of making all plastic drinks bottles illegal in the UK. Alongside this, the company offsets 2g of carbon for every 1g it creates making its beverages.

Melvin Jay, founder of Gunna Drinks, commented: “Putting the planet first is at the heart of Gunna’s company ethos and we’re proud to be the first-to-market with aluminium bottled soft drinks. We’ve invested heavily in this new planet-friendly packaging and although this comes at a premium, costing around 10% more than other formats, our research resoundingly shows consumers are prepared to pay a little more to avoid plastic. Coupled with the new immune boosting sodas, we believe this is a compelling proposition for retailers, with average spend on functional wellness drinks currently more than twice the average price per litre spent on soft drinks.”

The sight will certainly be a unique one to behold on current shelves, but one that will hopefully inspire other brands to make the switch to metal packaging and away from single use containers. Clearly, as Jay details above, the initial costs may be high, but the return on investment will be too, and can makers and equipment manufacturers are always ready to help their customers rise to the challenge of keeping packaging options as sustainable as possible.

• Alex Rivers (she/her), CanTech International editor
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