Mother of Pearl Vodka will serve drinks in Frugalpac’s paper bottles for live events at Suncorp Stadium, including concerts by Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran and ACDC – eventually aiming for low-carbon wine and spirit bottles at the Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2032.
Frugalpac’s Frugal Bottle is made from 94% recycled paperboard and a food-grade inner sleeve. Reportedly, it is five times lighter than glass and eliminates up to 84% of carbon emissions.
The format is also anticipated to reduce breakage risk in high-density environments, including hospitality and outdoor settings, and to offer customers 360-degree branding opportunities.
Mother of Pearl Vodka founded its packaging innovator, Paper Bottles, to supply the Australian and Southeast Asian markets with vodka, gin, and wines in paper bottles. Through a strategic partnership with Frugalpac, it plans to manufacture, fill and supply the bottles under license – cutting down on transport emissions in favour of ‘carbon-conscious’ regional supply chains.
Now, a partnership with Stadiums Queensland, Suncorp Stadium, and O’Brien’s Group, supported by the Queensland Government, is expected to introduce a more ergonomic, lightweight, and low-carbon packaging alternative for live events. It is hoped to demonstrate how venues can lower their environmental footprint in scalable ways in the lead-up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The partners point to Etihad Stadium serving wine in Frugal Bottles at four Coldplay shows in Manchester, UK, in June 2023. Over 8,000 bottles of white and rosé wine were served, and CarbonCloud’s independent calculations suggest that the move saved 7.3 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
“We’re thrilled to see our Frugal Bottles used at Queensland Suncorp Stadium’s concert series,” says Frugalpac CEO Malcolm Waugh, “particularly given Ed Sheeran is, like us, another global export from Ipswich, England.
“It’s incredibly rewarding to see a paper bottle designed in the United Kingdom being used at major international events to help venues cut carbon and set new standards for more sustainable live entertainment.”
“Using paper bottles at events like Ed Sheeran and Lady Gaga shows what’s possible when venues, government and suppliers work together,” adds Nic Hancock, CEO and co-founder of Mother of Pearl Vodka and Paper Bottles.
In a similar initiative, Notpla and Levy recently trialled a biodegradable drinks carrier at the England XV v France XV rugby match at Allianz Stadium. The venue says its partnership with Notpla has replaced over 100,000 single-use items across food packaging and cutlery, eliminated over 86 kilograms of plastic from the source, and avoided nearly 974 kg of CO2e emissions.
PepsiCo also joined forces with the San Francisco 49ers to distribute reusable cups at Levi’s Stadium. American football fans were encouraged to return their cups to designated bins, where Bold Reuse would collect, sanitize, and redistribute them – an approach anticipated to eliminate ‘tens of thousands’ of disposable single-use cups.
Last April, Frugalpac revealed that its Frugal Bottle was on sale at Target. The move was expected to save almost 87.8 tons of CO2 equivalent, with the retailer ordering 256,000 Frugal Bottles for its Collective Good wine range.
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