DS Smith has developed a custom cardboard six-packhandle solution for glass bottles of Martins Brewery’s organic beer, designed for a simple but memorable unboxing experience with mathematical puzzles provided inside.
Reportedly, the packhandle is made from 100% recyclable, uncoloured brown corrugated cardboard – described as a ‘bold’ and ‘impactful’ statement on Martins Brewery’s values – and held together with an ‘eco-friendly’ adhesive. It is designed to be folded into six individual compartments for each beer bottle.
The pack is intended for simple construction, manual folding, and seamless blending into the existing manufacture and production process – all without requiring special equipment or complex machinery. Its external sides can also be printed for brand storytelling.
Simultaneously, the unpacking process is thought to be simple for consumers, with the pack featuring a range of mathematical puzzles on the inside, promoting consumer engagement in line with the ‘sociable’ and ‘fun’ spirit of the brand.
“Our products have a sustainable ethos,” said Norbert Pilka, CEO of Martins Brewery. “We wanted to combine ‘logically ecological beer’ with sustainable packaging and the design concept immediately catches the customer’s attention in a retail environment and the packaging contains maths and fun tasks that reflect the individuality of the Martin’s brewery brand for our customers.
“The puzzles, like the recyclable packaging can be reused. We feel that we have achieved a high-quality product, innovation, functionality, and an attractive design all-in-one.”
DS Smith’s design team also applied the company’s Circular Design Metrics tool in the development process. Eight key indicators like carbon footprint, reuse, supply chain optimization, recyclability, material utilization, and recycled content are used to quantify the sustainability performance of a pack and compare solutions to find the best fit.
“We are thrilled for this opportunity to collaborate with Martins Brewery and to produce a solution that has an innovative, interactive, and memorable component," added Martin Němec, subregional managing director at DS Smith. "Our design team also set out to support this customer in reducing the volume and number of materials and with a focus on keeping these materials in use for longer. We have also worked hard to ensure that these holders can be easily constructed.”
Fibre-based handle solutions have been gaining traction in recent years. Back in September 2023, Coca-Cola HBC announced that it would replace plastic shrink film with a cardboard and paper carrier and wrap in a new trial; this would encompass 1.5-litre multipacks of its Coca-Cola, Fanta, and Sprite brands sold in Austria and sought to cut 200 tonnes of plastic from its operations annually.
Since then, WestRock and Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages have installed new equipment to implement recyclable paperboard carriers at the bottler’s production facility in Philadelphia – a move intended to replace around 200,000 pounds of plastic rings used in multipack bottled drinks.
KHS Group also revealed in December that a kraft paper carrying handle can now be applied to its Nature MultiPack solution, which replaces shrink film, paper and cardboard with adhesive. This solution is anticipated to use 85% less material than conventional solutions while protecting consumers from injuries caused by plastic alternatives.
In other news, DS Smith worked with Niels & Grete to develop a corrugated cardboard pack for its eggs; this is expected to improve its recyclability, phase out plastic components and unnecessary materials, and optimize the packaging process.
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